FARDC 5TH BRIGADE BEGINS FIRST INTEGRATED MISSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001814

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO CG
SUBJECT: FARDC 5TH BRIGADE BEGINS FIRST INTEGRATED MISSION
AGAINST FLDR


Classified By: PolOff TJNaber, reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (C) The FARDC 5th Integrated Brigade of the 8th military
region began its
first mission, code-named North Nexus, against FDLR rebels in
Virunga
National Park, North Kivu, on October 31. Also for the first
time FARDC took
the lead, with MONUC providing planning and logistical
assistance, in an
operation against "negative forces" in the Kivu provinces.
According to a MONUC officer, 13 FDLR rebels surrendered the
first day and
are now being screened by a MONUC DDRRR team for possible
repatriation to Rwanda.
Sources also state that five FDLR camps were destroyed. The
mission, which could
last two weeks, aims to evict such negative forces from the
Rutshuru
region of North Kivu.


2. (U) The press indicate that Mai Mai fighters, associated
with the
notorious "Jackson," are also being disrupted in the
operation.


3. (C) According to DAO, General Amisi, head of the 5th
Brigade, is
committed to the eviction mission and has instructed his
junior leadership of
the mission's importance. DAO said that Virunga National
Park is most likely
home to small operational bases, not large ones as found to
the west in
Walikale. If the FDLR rebels are pushed out of the park,
according to DAO,
it is possible they will flee to the south and take revenge
on civilians.


4. (C) Comment: This is the first military operation
involving an
integrated FARDC brigade in either North or South Kivu, and,
with the FARDC units
apparently in the lead, it has been the desired model for
Kivu operations for
a long time. We (the U.S., CIAT, and Joint Security
Commission members)
have been pressing the Congolese for some time to deploy
integrated brigades
and use them against rebels in the east. While it is
unrealistic to expect
too much from troops who are still not regularly paid or fed,
such an
offensive operation by the FARDC in the Kivus is welcome news.
MEECE