March 5 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The head of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Bintou Keita, has confirmed first-hand the deterioration of the security situation in the east of the country after a six-day visit to the provinces of Ituri, Kivu South and, above all, North Kivu, the epicenter of the fighting between the Congolese Army and the rebel group M23.
Keita has confirmed that the clashes have already left more than 600,000 additional displaced since March 2022 in North Kivu, while he recalled the other conflict that broke out in Ituri, where the atrocities of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militias have forced another million and a half more to leave their homes.
“Our support and our good offices will try to prevent the cannonade from continuing to crackle in the provinces already affected by an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and the limited access of humanitarian organizations to deliver the necessary aid to the displaced,” Keita lamented in statements collected by Radio Okapi.
The head of MONUSCO has asked the M23 to respect the commitment made in the negotiations in Angola to begin a ceasefire next Tuesday and has defended the work of the UN mission, accused of lack of commitment.
“In the face of this multiple misinformation about an alleged inaction by MONUSCO, I want to make it clear that this mission provides the Congolese Army with constant and multifaceted support, from strategic planning to joint operational planning, all to protect the civilian population,” he assured. .
