Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo the DRC’s Minister of National Defense and Veterans has announced that government forces will continue with operations against armed groups in the country.
He made the remarks during the 109th meeting of council of Ministers where he presented a report on the security situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to Bemba the Congolese armed forces will continue with their operations “reduce the capacity for nuisance” of the ADF/MTM, Codeco, Zaire and Mai-Mai with a view to their total eradication.
The Defense Minister explained that in the western part of the country, the situation remains under control of the loyalist forces that “keep tracking the Mobondo attackers, despite certain isolated actions by the latter”.
“In response, PNC-FARDC units have restored order there and are still carrying out mixed patrols on the Ubundu axis to secure the population in this area”, he said.
Meanwhile, President of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi during the recent summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) held in Luanda, Angola, accused the EAC regional Force of failing to fix the security situation in the East of the country.
According to Tshisekedi, the M23 rebels have so far refused to comply with the commitments yet subscribed within the framework of the Nairobi process and the Luanda Roadmap, even going to hinder the implementation mechanisms, including those supervised by MONUSCO, all under the “guilty and complicit” gaze of the regional force deployed by the East African Community.
President Tshisekedi has since asked the SADC forces to come to his rescue and deploy in the troubled Eastern region of the DRC plagued by over 100 armed groups.
From accusations of EACF’s cohabitation to complicity with the M23 movement, Kinshasa has visibly turned its back on the regional force, although still present on its territory.
