UN chief vows continued support for DR Congo army

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday vowed continued support for the Democratic Republic of Congo, grappling with the double scourge of militia violence and an Ebola epidemic.

Visiting Beni in the country's east, the secretary general said the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO, the Congolese army and national police "will continue to work together to return peace and security to the region.

"We will do everything to bring an end to the scourge of insecurity," said Guterres as he stressed his support for extending MONUSCO's mandate in the country beyond its scheduled December 31 end.

"In improving this MONUSCO action I am counting on the UN Security Council to be able to renew the mandate with the necessary adjustments," said Guterres after visiting an Ebola treatment centre at Mangina, near Beni.

The UN's DR Congo mandate, which began 20 years ago and has cost the lives of 27 blue helmet troops, is one of its biggest peacekeeping missions with about 16,000 troops and an annual budget of over USD 1 billion.

"Of course it is a decision of the Security Council -- but it is my view that MONUSCO has a very important role to play in DRC," Guterres told reporters.

Although the UN has closed some bases and cut civilian staff, Guterres said a "strategic revision" was under way in order to make it "more useful still to the Congolese people" in terms of security but also politically.

The government blames the violence in large part on the Islamist-rooted Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group that arose in western Uganda.

But there are also home-grown militia and other armed groups -- some 130 roam the North and South Kivu provinces of DR Congo, a vast country the size of western continental Europe.

The violence has claimed hundreds of civilian lives, and the inhabitants of Beni sometimes accuse UN soldiers of inaction against the ADF.

"It is important that the population of Beni knows that we have heard their cries of distress," the UN chief said Sunday.

He added: "The best response to terrorism and violence is development."