The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced today that it will, for the first time, use its intervention brigade to enforce a security zone around the flashpoint city of Goma in the eastern part of the country, giving rebels 48 hours to disarm.

A statement issued by the mission says that any individuals in the area of North Kivu province that includes Goma and Sake who are not members of national security forces will be given 48 hours from 4pm (Goma time) today to hand in their weapons to a MONUSCO base and join the DDR/RR (disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, Reintegration and Resettlement) process.

“After 4pm on Thursday, 1 August, they will be considered an imminent threat of physical violence to civilians and MONUSCO will take all necessary measures to disarm them, including by the use of force in accordance with its mandate and rules of engagement,” the statement says.

Over one million civilians live in the relatively small area of Goma and Sake, and along the road that connects them where, amongst others the Mugunga camps, temporary home to nearly 70,000 people displaced by the conflict, are situated.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45535&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo#.UfhCmW2tyBo

The United Nations recently authorized peacekeeping forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to perform offensive military actions against a variety of rebel groups located in the east of the country. The newly formed Force Intervention Brigade (FIB), authorized by the U.N. Security Council in March, began arriving in force earlier this month. Composed of elite troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi, FIB may be able to tip the scales of the battles in favor of the U.N. and the DRC military.

However, with the introduction of FIB comes many new and complicated issues. This is the first time in the United Nations’ 68-year history that peacekeeping forces have been deployed offensively against a particular group. Most U.N. peacekeeping missions are neutral and impartial, merely present to maintain peace, rather than alienate and attack a particular party within a conflict. Furthermore, if the operations are unsuccessful, it could only aggravate the already complex configuration of the eastern DRC and relations with neighboring Rwanda.
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Retired United States Major General Patrick Cammaert, a former U.N. military advisor in the DRC, and Fiona Blyth, a research assistant with the International Peace Institute, published a report on July 3, on the International Peace Institute’s website. In it, they expressed concerns about FIB’s chances against the rebel groups. “Given the size of the area of operations and number of rebel groups, just over 3,000 U.N. troops may not be what the existing mission requires to fulfill its mandate of protecting civilians and neutralizing armed groups,” the report states.
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Pieter Vanholder, the DRC country director for the Life and Peace Institute, believes that attempting to accomplish these goals may result in unintended consequences. Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Vanholder explained, “The brigade may be seen as a kind of occupation force. As a consequence it could become a push factor for some to join armed groups, adding to local resistance.”

http://www.theinternational.org/articles/450-united-nations-authorizes-offensive-opera