Congo Rebel Group M23 Threatens To Retake Goma As UN Peacekeepers Ramp Up Patrols

International Business Times ^ | August 05 2013 7:37 AM | IBTimes Staff Reporter

[Pan_Yan]

Rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are threatening to retake the eastern city of Goma if their demands aren't met, less than one week after the United Nations called for them to turn in their weapons or risk forceful intervention from UN peacekeeping forces.

The rebel group M23 is a reincarnation of older insurgent movements, and just one of dozens of militias in the region. It takes its name from a March 23 peace agreement that saw the rebels' absorption into the chronically weak Congolese army in 2009. The group consists mainly of Congolese nationals from the Tutsi ethnic group; it coalesced in 2012, citing complaints that the 2009 deal hadn't been upheld.

M23 made headlines in November when its fighters briefly occupied Goma, one of the major towns in North Kivu, a region rich in minerals but plagued by conflicts. Monusco, a UN peacekeeping force of 17,000, was criticized for failing to fend off the November invasion. Since then, the UN presence has been strengthened by the authorization of a 3,000-member intervention brigade employing heavy arms and operating under a more robust mandate. Most of its members come from Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa.

[Pan_Yan]

The UN has 17,000 "peacekeepers" in Congo mostly as a jobs program for third world soldiers. This year the UN authorized an intervention brigade for the purposes of conducting offensive operations against some of the rebel groups but not others.

The last time M-23 took Goma the fleeing army forces raped and plundered their way through every village on the way out. Those are the people the UN is spending our tax dollars to prop up.

If you dig around you'll find Susan Rice's finger prints all over this conflict.

[JSteff]

risk forceful intervention from UN peacekeeping forces

A truly frightening picture, which means a force that is only truly frightening for the civilians in it's path. Not that scary to M23 or any other even modest sized or trained force.
Hopefully the innocents in the path of any rescue will not blame us for what is about to happen.. even if Africa is the "genetic homeland" for most of our admin.