Originally published on the CGS blog on September 12, 2007.
From the ENOUGH blog:
The threat of Congo’s third major war in the last decade is the subject of a paper released today by the ENOUGH Project. Authors John Prendergast and Colin Thomas-Jensen outline a detailed strategy to avert the resumption of full-scale war.
Dissident Congolese Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda’s more than 3,000 loyal forces have carved out control of parts of North Kivu Province. The Congolese government has responded by realigning itself with the FDLR – a militia composed of more than 6,000 Rwandan Hutu rebels, many with links to the 1994 genocide in their home country – to fight Nkunda’s more effective force. This threatens to draw Rwanda back into Congo’s conflict, which would lead to rapid escalation and potentially plunge Congo back into regional war.
In recent weeks, fighting between the two sides has intensified, with increasing numbers of troops being deployed to the front line and more being forcibly recruited. Civilians inevitably are caught in the crossfire, and the prevailing climate of impunity allows all sides – Nkunda, the FDLR, the Congolese army and local militias – to exploit the local population without fear of consequences.
Read the paper here: http://www.enoughproject.org/reports/congo_nightmare_20070910.php
