Kivu conflict

The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including neighboring Ituri province, there are more than 120 different armed groups active in the eastern DRC. Currently, some of the most active rebel groups include the Allied Democratic Forces, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, the March 23 Movement, and many local Mai Mai militias.[27] In addition to rebel groups and the governmental FARDC troops, a number of national and international organizations have intervened militarily in the conflict, including the United Nations force known as MONUSCO, and recently an East African Community regional force.

Kivu Conflict
Part of the aftermath of the Second Congo War

Approximate map of current military situation in Kivu.
For a detailed map, see here. Clases and incidents map:
Date
  • 2 June 2004[1] – 27 February 2009 (First phase)
    (5 years, 3 months, 3 weeks and 4 days)
  • 4 April 2012 – 7 November 2013 (Second phase)
    (1 year, 7 months and 3 days)
  • 31 January 2015[2] – present (Third phase)
    (8 years, 4 months and 1 week)

(19 years and 5 days)

Location
Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (spillovers in Rwanda, Burundi and Ituri, Maniema and Tanganyika provinces, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Status

Ongoing

  • FARDC victory against the CNDP in 2009 and the M23 movement in 2012
  • CNDP becomes a political party in the DRC
  • M23 movement signs peace agreement with the DRC government; renews fighting in 2022
  • FDLR, Mai-Mai militias and other armed groups still active in Eastern DRC
  • UN and FARDC begin operation to defeat the FDLR and their allies at the start of 2015
Belligerents
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo M23
    (from 2012; temporarily rebranded as "M27")[3]
  • CNDP (2006–2009)
Supported by:
Supported by:

Commanders and leaders
Strength
6,000–8,000 CNDP (2007)[13]
5,500+ M23 (2012)

2004: 20,000 total troops;[13][14]

  • Democratic Republic of the Congo 14,000 FARDC troops
  • 4,000–5,000 Mai Mai militia[14]

2008:

  • 3,500 Mai-Mai militia[15]
  • 6,000–7,000 FDLR[15]

2013: 22,016 UN Monusco Uniformed personnel (2013)[16]
2,000 FDLR[17]
1,500 ACPLS[18]
3,000 FNL/Palipehutu
Hundreds of FNL–Nzabampema
1,000–1,250 (2018)[19]
Several thousand Raia Mutomboki militia
10,000+ other armed groups
Casualties and losses
CNDP: 233 killed[citation needed] FARDC: 71 killed[citation needed]
BDF: Unknown
United Nations 17+ killed[20][21]
Unknown Unknown
More than 1.4 million internally displaced persons,[22]
hundreds of thousands of excess deaths,
11,873+ people killed
(including civilians and combatants of each sides)[23][24][20][25][26]

Conflict began in 2004 in the eastern Congo as an armed conflict between the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and the Hutu Power group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has broadly consisted of three phases, the third of which is an ongoing conflict. Prior to March 2009, the main combatant group against the FARDC was the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP). Following the cessation of hostilities between these two forces, rebel Tutsi forces, formerly under the command of Laurent Nkunda, became the dominant opposition to the government forces.

The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) has played a large role in the conflict. With a 21,000-strong force, the Kivu conflict constitutes the largest peacekeeping mission currently in operation. In total, 93 peacekeepers have died in the region, with 15 dying in a large-scale attack by an Islamist militia, the Allied Democratic Forces, in North Kivu in December 2017.[28] The peacekeeping force seeks to prevent escalation of force in the conflict, and minimise human rights abuses like sexual assault and the use of child soldiers.[29]

CNDP is sympathetic to the Banyamulenge in Eastern Congo, an ethnic Tutsi group, and to the Tutsi-dominated government of neighboring Rwanda. It was opposed by the FDLR, by the DRC army, and by United Nations forces.


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