DRC: UN Calls For Calm Amidst Fears Of M23 Attack
By Alex Masereka, www.redpepper.co.ug
The United Nations Mission in Congo, Monusco, has called for calm among the residents of Goma amidst fears that the M23 rebels are planning an assault on the North Kivu Provincial capital.
The Monusco spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Prosper Félix Basset, says the locals of Goma should be confident and relaxed adding that the UN forces are determined to protect them and their property.
M23 fighters launched a rebellion last May, forcing 800,000 from their homes
Colonel Basset says the UN forces have received reports that the M23 rebels are planning an assault on Goma over the failure by the Congolese government to honor the commitments they made before the rebels pulled out of the city which they overrun and held for 10 days in November last year.
Colonel Basset reveals that the United Nations Peace Keepers and the intervention brigade would spare no effort to neutralize the negative forces including the M23.
Sources from Goma indicate that the local civil society groups in the area have been calling upon the UN intervention brigade and other UN forces to immediately attack the M23 rebels and push them away from the outskirts.
It is also said that some Congolese near the areas of Mutaho and around Goma Airport have started leaving their homes amidst reports that the M23 rebels may strike any time and recapture the city.
The M23 civilian Leader Bertrand Bisiimwa told local media that the rebels are watching every development from a distance and will immediately fire back if they are attacked by any enemy, be it UN forces or the DRC government.
Congolese opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi reveals that the Congolese Civil Society groups and the UN forces are wrong to think that attacking the M23 rebels will provide a solution to the country’s problems.
The veteran politician says attacking M23 could plunge the country into more violence and the loss of more Congolese lives, while UN forces will only pack their bags and go home after plundering the resource-rich country.
