(Goma) The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) announced Friday the launch with the Congolese army of an operation, called “Springbok”, intended to prevent the M23 rebels from taking Goma, in the is from the DRC.
“Our main objective is to stop any attempt by the M23 to invade Sake [à une trentaine de kilomètres de la capitale provinciale du Nord-Kivu] or Goma,” General Otavio Rodrigues de Miranda Filho, commander of the MONUSCO force, told the press in Goma.
“MONUSCO has always been with us as a privileged partner,” commented Lieutenant-Colonel Guillaume Ndjike, spokesperson for the military governor of North Kivu.
Present in the DRC since 1999, the UN force is widely criticized by the Congolese who accuse it of not having put an end to the violence of armed groups, in particular the M23. The Kinshasa government has requested his “accelerated” departure from next December.
PHOTO ALEXIS HUGUET, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Residents of Bambo, 60 kilometers north of Goma, flee the town after an attack by rebels from the M23 group on October 26, 2023.
The M23 (“March 23 Movement”), supported by Rwanda according to numerous sources, took up arms almost two years ago and seized large swaths of territory in North Kivu.
After six months of relative calm, violent clashes resumed at the beginning of October between the rebels on the one hand, the Congolese army (FARDC) and armed groups presenting themselves as “patriots” on the other hand, causing new displacements population masses.
The UN estimates that nearly a million people have been displaced in North Kivu due to the conflict with the M23.
MONUSCO “is deeply concerned by the serious escalation of the conflict over the past month,” said General Miranda Filho. This conflict, he said, “represents a major threat to access for humanitarian aid and to displaced people, many of whom are sheltering in sites on the outskirts of Goma.”
The M23, he continued, “is currently progressing towards the south” towards Sake, “a city which aims to be an essential rampart in the defense of Goma”.
MONUSCO is committed to working with the FARDC “to protect civilians from armed rebel groups”, which is why, “today, MONUSCO military personnel and the FARDC launched Operation Springbok”, he said. again declared the commander of the UN force.
“Our troops are deployed throughout the region and if the M23 ever approached these towns, MONUSCO and the FARDC would defend the civilian population,” he assured, adding: “We will work together and together, we are stronger than any armed group.”