11 Killed In Clashes Between Rebel Group, Congo Army

Map of the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

11 killed in clashes between rebel group, Congo Army

Mon Apr 1, 2013 9:0PM GMT
presstv.ir

Eleven members of a rebel group in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been killed in fresh clashes with government forces, the United Nations says.

UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey said on Monday that the fighting between the Alliance of Patriots for a Free and Sovereign Congo -- better known by its French acronym APCLS -- and DRC army took place in Kitchanga, in North Kivu province, AFP reported.

Kitchanga is in the Masisi region of North Kivu, close to where the Congolese Army and UN peacekeepers are in a showdown with the March 23 movement (M23) rebels.

Del Buey said one army soldier was also injured during the skirmishes.

The APCLS is an armed group of the ethnic majority Hunde under the command of Janvier Buingo Karairi.

Several armed groups, including the M23 rebels, are active in the east of the DRC and fighting for control of the country’s vast mineral resources, such as gold, the main tin ore cassiterite, and coltan (columbite-tantalite), which is used to make many electronic devices, including cell phones.

On March 29, the United Nations Security Council approved the creation of a new combat force to conduct “targeted offensive operations” against armed groups in eastern Congo.

The 15-member Security Council adopted a resolution establishing the so-called intervention brigade. This is the first time the UN has given its troops an offensive mandate.

Since early May 2012, nearly 3 million people have fled their homes in the eastern Congo. About 2.5 million have resettled in Congo, but more than 460,000 have crossed into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.

Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades, such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country that has dragged on since 1998 and left over 5.5 million people dead.