:
Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)
October 5,
2008: Rebel militia leader General Laurent Nkunda may be expanding his
political goals in the Congo. Nkunda and his CNDP militia have claimed their
aim is to protect Congolese Tutsis. Now Nkunda says he wants to "liberate" the
entire Congo. Here's the specific quote: "We are going to liberate the people
of Congo." MONUC (UN Mission in Congo)
has condemned Nkunda's statement. This may be political rhetoric and bombast by
a leader known for both. However, thanks to Nkunda, the January 2008 peace deal
is in tatters. Why? Nkunda entered the peace process in part because he thought
the Congolese government would help destroy the Democratic Forces for
Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) militia and that the CNDP would enter into some
type of power sharing arrangement with the Kabila government. The FDLR is still
around. The Congolese government doesn't trust Nkunda and he doesn't trust
them.
October 3,
2008: The Congolese Army sent reinforcements into Ituri province in order to
quell attacks by the IPRF.
October 2,
2008: UN attack helicopters fired on militia forces near the village of Kagaba
(Ituri province). Two gunships fired rockets and strafed militiamen belonging
to the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Front (IPRF—sometimes the militia is called
the FRPI, for Front de Resistance Patriotique en Ituri). MONUC estimates that
the IPRF has around 2,000 armed militiamen. This is an increase in size since
the beginning of 2008. UN forces have been fighting with the IRRF in the area
since an IRRF unit ambushed a UN convoy on September 30.
September
30, 2008: The UN and Sudan reported that over 1200 Congolese civilians fled
into south Sudan to avoid attacks by the Ugandan LRA (Lord's Resistance Army).
The villagers said LRA fighters attacked their homes and abducted several
children. The LRA uses kidnap victims to carry weapons and supplies. Congo has
moved more forces into the border region in response to demands by Uganda that
Congo crackdown on LRA fighters operating within its borders and eliminate
bases.
September
28, 2008: The Congolese Army and the CNDP fought a series of firefights in
North Kivu province. The largest engagement occurred near the town of Rugari
(north of Goma) in the heavily disputed Rutshuru region. Goma lies on the
Rwanda-Congo border.
September
25, 2008: UN and international observers are saying the Congo peace accord is
falling apart. The spasm of fighting in late August between Laurent Nkunda's
National Congress for the Defense of People (CNDP) militia and other militias in the Rutshuru, North Kivu
area, began a round of hit and run battles that have displaced an estimated
100,000 people in North Kivu alone. The fighting has continued on and off for
the first three weeks of September, with a spate of violence in South Kivu's
Kalehe region.