The army in the Democratic Republic of Congo announced Thursday a fresh offensive against Rwandan ethnic Hutu rebels after weeks of heavy international pressure to act.
But the military operation was being conducted without the assistance of the UN mission in the troubled central African country.
“Today we’re launching new operations against the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda),” General Didier Etumba said in Beni, in the north of North Kivu province.
“This is an operation by the FARDC (DRC Armed Forces),” Etumba said, rather than a joint offensive with a special UN brigade deployed in the country.