East African Regional Force Increases Patrols of DRC Supply Routes
The patrols aim to keep routes open for goods, humanitarian aid, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning home; the bloc’s chief said the security situation remains complex as sporadic violence among various armed groups continues in North Kivu (East African)
Nine Dead, Sixteen Wounded in Eastern DRC Explosion
A bomb reportedly inadvertently detonated after a civilian picked it up in a field and handed it over to a militiaman; multiple armed groups operate in North Kivu, where the blast occurred (Al Jazeera)
UN: Congo Violence Killed Over Forty Civilians in Three Days
A UN spokesperson warned that violence in northeastern DRC has escalated and called on all parties to respect humanitarian law; a report released last month by the international medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders said that humanitarian relief in the area has been slow and lacks transparency (AP)
Meanwhile, some U.S. firms are allegedly failing to disclose ties to Central Africa’s illegal mineral trade, violating a law that requires companies to file reports on products that contain minerals from the region in an effort to cut ties between the illicit mineral trade and violence in the DRC (Bloomberg)
UAE Signs Mining Deal with DRC
Under the $1.9 billion deal with the DRC’s state mining company, the UAE will develop four mines in eastern DRC’s turbulent South Kivu and Maniema provinces (Al Jazeera)
M23 Rebels Accused of Killing at Least Eleven Civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo
According to a civil society leader, the rebels, who have seized sizeable territory and displaced about a million people since re-emerging in 2021, battled with self-defense groups and forced residents to leave with them carrying luggage (AFP)
Uganda’s President Accuses Former Democratic Republic of Congo President of Supporting Allied Democratic Forces Militia
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said Joseph Kabila’s government provided the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which formed in opposition to Museveni in 1995, sanctuary and access to mining proceeds in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo; the group pledged allegiance to the self-proclaimed Islamic State in 2019 and has regularly attacks civilians and security forces (Al Jazeera)
Opposition Spokesperson Killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Cherubin Okende, a member of parliament and former transportation minister, was shot on a major road in Kinshasa; the government condemned the murder and opened an investigation (East African)
Former Kenyan President in the Democratic Republic of Congo to Assess Peace Process
Uhuru Kenyatta, who has facilitated talks between the Congolese military (FARDC) and M23 rebels, will try to cool tensions amid a fragile ceasefire that has begun to falter (East African)
Uganda, DRC Kill Senior Militant Commander in Joint Operation
The Ugandan military called Lubangakane a “daredevil commander” of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and said they killed three other militants and seized heavy weapons in the eastern Congo operation (Nile Post)
Proposed U.S. Bill Targets Child Labor in DRC Mineral Mining
The U.S. House bill, aimed at Chinese cobalt mining operations, would ban the import of products containing minerals mined by children; previous U.S. legislative attempts to target so-called conflict minerals in the DRC had some success but faced fierce opposition in the DRC for its unintended consequences (Africa News)
Militants Attack Rangers in DRC Wildlife Reserve
One ranger was killed and another injured while patrolling an area of Ituri province’s Okapi Wildlife Reserve known to host illegal mining operations (France 24)
African Leaders Discuss Eastern DRC Conflict
At a summit in Angola, regional leaders emphasized the need for cooperation and joint monitoring efforts and demanded that armed groups withdraw in eastern DRC (Africa News;East African)
United States Warns Against UN Peacekeeping Withdrawal from DRC
Amid continued protests against the UN presence, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the DRC said a MONUSCO departure would create a security vacuum that Congolese forces would likely be unable to fill (AFP)
UN: Rwanda Directly Intervened in DRC
The new report presents evidence that the Rwandan military has operated in eastern DRC to reinforce M23 and attack armed Hutu groups, such as the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), which participated in the Rwandan genocide (FT)
Meanwhile, UN experts said the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is expanding its reach in the DRC with funding from the Islamic State (Reuters)
Leading DRC Opposition Candidate Threatens to Boycott Election
Congo will hold legislative and presidential elections on December 20, but Martin Fayulu, who is thought to have won the 2018 vote, says his party will not participate unless the government is more transparent about voter registration and other aspects of the election (Al Jazeera)
Meanwhile, authorities arrested the right-hand man of Moise Katumbi, expected to be another top contender in the upcoming election, alleging that he collaborated with Rwanda and the M23 movement (Africa Report)
Rebels Launch Cross Border Attack on Ugandan School, Killing Forty-One
The rebels are suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group based in eastern Congo that the Ugandan government has fought for decades, and quickly fled across the porous Congolese border following the attack; Uganda has deployed troops across the border since 2021 to try to destroy the group’s strongholds in the DRC (AP;NYT)
Human Rights Watch: M23 Committed War Crimes in DRC
New reports accuse the rebel group of rape and unlawful killings, among other war crimes, following the discovery of mass graves in North Kivu province (HRW;HRW)
Attack on Congo IDP Camp Kills More Than Forty
Local administrators in the northeastern province of Ituri blame the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo (CODECO), a group that claims to protect the Lendu ethnic group from the Hema; attacks on the over 1.5 million internally displaced people in Ituri have become common as the decades-long conflict between the two groups continues (Al Jazeera)
UN Peacekeeping Force to Leave DRC
A UN official said MONUSCO, one of the UN’s largest peacekeeping operations, will leave the DRC “as quickly as possible” in a responsible manner, urging Congolese authorities to step up their response to the conflict in the east to avoid a security vacuum (The East African)
Rwandan President Dismisses Two Hundred Soldiers
President Paul Kagame dismissed more than two hundred soldiers, including senior military officers, according to a statement released today by the Rwandan army; he did not announce a reason for the dismissals, which come amid high tensions with neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (BBC)
Great Lakes Leaders Approve of Southern African Bloc’s Troop Deployment to DRC
The South African Development Community (SADC) announced its deployment last month, and regional leaders say it will bolster the regional response, though SADC’s previous mission in the DRC was unsuccessful (East African)
SADC officials say the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF), which has been on the ground for a few months, acts too passively and has a friendly approach to the “M23/RDF terrorists” (ISS)
Congo Asks ICC to Probe Alleged Abuses by Rwandan Forces, M23 Rebels
The Democratic Republic of Congo formally requested that the International Criminal Court (ICC) probe alleged human rights violations by the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group; Kinshasa says Rwanda has assisted the group’s attacks in the eastern Congo, which Kigali denies (Reuters)
Flash Flooding Kills Nearly Four Hundred in Eastern DRC
Rescuers recovered nearly four hundred bodies following flash flooding and landslides in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week; authorities previously estimated that two hundred people had died (BBC)
African Bloc to Send Troops to DRC
The sixteen-nation Southern African Development Community said it will send troops to aid the UN peacemakers, troops from the East African Community, and private military forces working to stabilize the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (Bloomberg)
Rebels Kill Six in East DRC
According to local officials, rebels associated with the Islamic State group attacked a village in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and killed at least six people (VOA)