No more delay in disarming rebels in DR Congo: UNSC

The UN Security Council (UNSC) has reiterated that there should be "no further delay" in the voluntary disarmament process of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) armed group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The 15-member body said in a presidential statement that there should be no delay beyond the Jan 2, 2015 deadline set by the region for the disarmament process, and urged military action against FDLR fighters who refused or failed to engage in the process, Xinhua reported Wednesday.

"The Security Council calls on MONUSCO (the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and the DRC government to immediately update operational plans for military action that should begin no later than January against the FDLR," the statement said.

The FDLR rebels, primarily Rwandan Hutu militias who fled to Congo after carrying out the Rwanda's 1994 genocide, announced in May that they would disarm.

The Congolese government set the June 9 deadline for the group to lay down weapons, but saw little progress with only a few hundred fighters complying. African countries agreed in early July to extend for another six months the deadline for the FDLR to disarm.

The UN has a 22,000-strong peacekeeping force in the DRC. In 2013, the council authorised the deployment of an intervention brigade within MONUSCO to carry out targeted offensive operations, with or without the Congolese national army, against armed groups that threaten peace in eastern DRC.