UN forces help retake DR Congo town from rebels

The UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has helped government forces retake the border town of Kamango.

The UN forces used helicopters on Wednesday to launch an attack on Ugandan rebels in the town in the Beni region.

A senior officer with the UN mission to DR Congo (MONUSCO) said on condition of anonymity that “South African helicopters in the UN intervention force were asked by FARDC (the DR Congo army) to give them support to recapture Kamango.”

“We have already taken back Kamango,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Olivier Amuli, a FARDC army spokesman in North-Kivu province.

Teddy Kataliko, the head of the civil society in the Beni region, said that militants of the Ugandan rebel group of Allied Democratic Forces-National Army (ADF-Nalu) were “now heading towards” the border town of Nobili where more than 150,000 people have taken refuge from the fighting.

“We believe there is the risk of a massacre and that’s why we are asking to establish a humanitarian corridor,” he said.

The mineral-rich region bordering Uganda has been plagued by a number of armed groups in recent months.

In July, thousands of people fled the region after the ADF-Nalu rebels attacked Kamango and took control of it.

Last week, the UN mission to DR Congo reported that at least 21 people were killed in Beni.

MONUSCO’s mission, which includes around 3,000 troops from Tanzania, South Africa and Malawi, has been specially authorized to go after armed groups ravaging DR Congo.

The mission helped bring down the rebels of March 23 Movement (M23) last month.

Earlier this week, the Congolese government has approved a plan for giving amnesty to some former M23 rebels.

The plan, yet to pass through the Congolese parliament, comes in line with the peace documents signed by Kinshasa and the rebels in Nairobi on December 12.

The M23 rebels defected from the Congolese Army in April 2012 in protest over alleged mistreatment in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They had previously been integrated into the Congolese army under a peace deal signed in 2009.

The rebels seized Goma on November 20, 2012 after UN peacekeepers gave up the battle for the frontier city of one million people. M23 fighters withdrew from the city on December 1, 2012 under a ceasefire accord.

On November 5, 2013, the DRC claimed “total victory” over the M23 after capturing the group’s remaining hilltop positions north of Goma with the assistance of a UN-mandated African force.

Hours later, M23 declared an end to its revolt and announced it would disarm and pursue political talks.

Despite the demise of the M23, the DRC continues to host a multitude of rebel groups mostly operating in the country’s mineral-rich east.