Democratic Republic of the Congo: Government forces and UN troops launch offensive against Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels
Government forces backed by UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have begun attacking Rwandan Hutu rebels based in the eastern border region, UN and Congolese officials say.
Hutu rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) have been involved in nearly two decades of regional conflict, which spilled into eastern Congo after neighbouring Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
The United Nations force, known as MONUSCO, has a robust mandate to eradicate Congo’s armed groups. UN troops and government forces won a rare victory last year against M23, a Congolese Tutsi rebel force that had been the FDLR’s principal enemy.
Colonel Felix Basse, military spokesman for the UN’s Congo mission, said UN troops had deployed in Virunga National Park in North Kivu province and were backing a Congolese offensive against the FDLR.