Displaying items by tag: DRC

Thursday, 15 February 2024 21:38

South Africa: cost of peace-keeping force in DRC

South Africa's contingent of 2,900 soldiers deployed to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is expected to cost just over R2 billion (£850 million), as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission takes on a year-long tour to help stabilise that troubled region. The SAMIDRC also includes soldiers from Malawi, Tanzania and the DRC itself. The deployment of this force follows its principle of collective self-defence and collective action, which states: ‘Any armed attack perpetrated against one of the state parties shall be considered a threat to regional peace and security, and shall be met with immediate collective action.’ President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended his deployment of the force as ‘South Africa's international obligation’ towards the SADC.

Published in Worldwide

On 20 December, amid widespread delays and logistical complications, polling stations opened in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Because of the delays, it was decided to extend the voting for a second day. The election is a significant moment for the nation. Over 40 million are expected to vote, including Congolese nationals living in some other countries: they will elect not only the president, but also 484 national assembly members, 715 members of provincial assemblies, and 311 municipal council members - a total of more than 1,500, from a pool of over 100,000 candidates. Several opposition candidates have expressed serious concerns about the chaotic process and possible fraud. Félix Tshisekedi, the incumbent president, is seen as likely to be re-elected, given that the opposition has remained fractured. If re-elected, he has threatened to declare war on Rwanda: see The DRC has grappled with years of conflict and political instability, making this election a crucial step towards achieving stability and democracy.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 24 November 2023 09:05

DRC: UN peacekeepers agree to withdraw

After nearly two decades, the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Congo (MONUSCO) has signed an agreement to withdraw its 15,000 peacekeepers from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The foreign minister and MONUSCO's head finalised the deal, marking the end of a collaboration that struggled to bring lasting peace to eastern Congo, a region plagued by a long-standing conflict involving numerous armed groups, some backed by neighbouring countries. With upcoming elections in December, the conflict has taken centre stage, prompting the incumbent president Félix Tshisekedi, to call for the UN peacekeepers' accelerated withdrawal; the government has cited ‘unsatisfactory results’ to justify this request. Tensions between the UN mission and the local population have often flared, resulting in deadly protests. The exact timing of the withdrawal has not yet been agreed.

Published in Worldwide

The Allied Democratic Force (ADF), which operates primarily out of the DRC, is a violent extremist group that is gaining power in Central Africa. The known IS affiliate is notorious for targeting Christians in its violent campaigns to establish an Islamic caliphate in the region. A widening recruitment network and an increase in funding overseas contributed to ADF’s bloodiest year yet. While IS lost much of its power and control in Syria and Iraq, its affiliate groups in Afghanistan, the Sahel region, and Central Africa grew stronger. The ADF was listed as one of the worst terrorist groups in 2022. Pray for an end to ADF-led violence in this region. Pray for God to protect Christians throughout the DRC. Pray also for the group’s funding and recruitment network to be cut off.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 23 June 2023 09:55

Africa: rivers of Christian blood

The 16 June murder of 45 Christian schoolchildren is the latest anti-Christian atrocity committed by ADF. They were hacked to death, shot, or burned alive. Others were abducted. ADF pledges loyalty to IS and has slaughtered hundreds of Christians in north-eastern DRC. Nigeria’s Middle Belt has seen over 1,500 Christians killed in the last 18 months. In May IS released a video of 20 Nigerian Christians being murdered. Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) have beheaded thousands of Christians on social media. ISM celebrates building its Islamic province ‘on heaps of Christian corpses and rivers of their blood’. A Middle East Media Research Institute report stated that IS and al-Qaeda, having been beaten back from Middle East strongholds, have found new pastures for genocide in Africa. They follow the same tactics of mass killings, execution-style beheadings, and burning churches, celebrated in slickly produced publications and social media campaigns designed to entice the next generation of bloodthirsty Islamist terrorists.

Published in Worldwide

Tearfund is calling on the international community to act fast to save lives after flash floods killed over 400 and left thousands homeless in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Torrential rain triggered landslides and caused four rivers to flood, hindering access routes and making it harder for aid agencies to reach the region. The death toll will rise without urgent intervention. It took rescuers two days to find a way to reach a devastated area because landslides and collapsed bridges blocked the road they wanted to use. Finally, they had to use the lake and a boat. Churches, schools and over 2,000 homes are destroyed, and more than a thousand people are missing. The fear is that the number of missing people will turn into deaths. It is a time of mourning , and action is needed to bring clean water, toilets, sanitation facilities and food.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 02 February 2023 22:10

Democratic Republic of Congo: ‘poison of greed’

When Pope Francis visited the DRC he said that the rich world must realise that people are more precious than minerals in the earth beneath them. Speaking to dignitaries at the presidential palace, he talked of ‘terrible forms of exploitation, unworthy of humanity, where vast mineral wealth fuels war, displacement and hunger. Hands off the DRC. Hands off Africa. Stop choking Africa: it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered.’ Congo has some of the world's richest diamond deposits as well as gold, copper, and other minerals. ‘The poison of greed has smeared its diamonds with blood,’ he said. An estimated 5.7 million people are internally displaced in Congo; 26 million face severe hunger, largely due to armed conflict. Half of the population are Roman Catholics, and the Church plays a crucial role in running schools and health facilities, as well as promoting democracy.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 27 January 2023 08:20

DRC: Conflict and Christians

On 25th January, Rwanda's military fired at a Congolese fighter jet that had violated their airspace for the third time recently. The DRC called the shooting ‘an act of war.’ This incident comes a week before Pope Francis is to make the first papal visit to Kinshasa since 1985. The Pope plans to shine a spotlight on the bloodshed of the conflict in eastern DRC, one of the world's most resource-rich yet conflict-ridden regions. On 15th January an improvised explosive device ripped through the congregation at a baptismal service conducted by a blind pastor. It severed limbs and killed at least 17 people. This attack in North Kivu province is just the latest terrorist outrage in the DRC by the Allied Democratic Forces, one of the most dangerous of dozens of armed groups in eastern DRC. As well as physical injuries, terrorist violence has left DRC Christians suffering serious emotional trauma.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 12 January 2023 21:37

100 hostages rescued from ADF

Recently, a joint military operation between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo successfully rescued over one hundred civilians who were being held hostage by the Islamic extremist group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The military task force launched airstrikes on the ADF rebel camps for over two months before the rescue operation. One of the rescued women said, ‘The soldiers arrived when we were praying. They fired several bullets, which allowed us to flee to the middle of the bush.’ The ADF started as a force opposing the alleged mistreatment of Muslims by Uganda. It later expanded to the DRC, where it has grown and spread. It is the most violent of 120 armed groups in eastern DRC and has committed crimes against Congolese civilians, including many Christians.

Published in Praise Reports
Thursday, 08 December 2022 20:46

DR Congo: UN denounces massacre

The UN’s peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has denounced the killings of fifty villagers by M23 in the conflict-wracked east, and called for an investigation to ‘bring justice’. The March 23 movement, or M23, is a Congolese Tutsi rebel group that was dormant for years. It took up arms again last November, seizing Bunagana town on Uganda’s border in June. ‘The UN said that the killings could constitute crimes under international humanitarian law, as well as violating the recent ceasefire. Denis Mukwege, a Congolese doctor who won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping rape victims in the strife-torn region, also expressed horror at reports of mass slaughter, missing people, and forced recruitment of children into conflict. Human Rights Watch said UN troops should be deployed to protect survivors. Pray that M23 is disarmed and withdraws from land it has seized as requested by the East African leaders. On 8 December the UN announced that 131 civilians had died in an attack by M23 in November. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-63899461

Published in Worldwide
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