DR Congo, UN announce 'joint operations' after Beni violence

DR Congo and UN peacekeepers will launch "joint operations" to beef up security in an eastern town where massacres by a shadowy armed group sparked angry protests by local people, the presidential office said Monday.

Demonstrators stormed a United Nations peacekeepers' camp near the DR Congo town of Beni, incensed by failures to curb a notorious group that killed eight civilians overnight, an AFP reporter said.

Defying warning shorts fired by Congolese security forces, protesters broke into the camp, which had apparently been evacuated, and set fire to an office, an AFP reporter saw.

They were among an angry crowd several hundred strong that had headed to two camps after setting fire to Beni town hall, partially damaging it.

Army spokesman Colonel Mak Hazukai confirmed that the town had been attacked by armed men overnight, telling AFP that "the enemy entered the Boikene quarter and killed eight civilians".

The killing has been blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia, a group that has its historical roots among Ugandan Islamists opposed to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

The force has plagued eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for decades, despite the presence of a large UN force and repeated pledges by the government to root it out.

Within hours of the massacre and the protest, the DRC presidency in Kinshasa announced the armed forces would stage "joint operations" in Beni with the UN force, MONUSCO.

The operations aim at "ensuring peace and security for the civilian population," it said after an emergency meeting with MONUSCO.

The DRC's armed forces will also set up an "advance headquarters" in Beni, it said in a statement.

There were no details as to when the operation would begin.

The UN mission issued its own statement, saying it would "strengthen cooperation with its partners and work closely with the authorities to jointly find solutions for the people of Beni."
She said it was "legitimate for people to ask why this force is still in the DRC."