ADF STAFF
A young farmer wielded a hoe under the unrelenting sun in the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ituri province. A Soldier with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) stood nearby, protecting him.
Along a dirt road, MONUSCO peacekeepers accompanied women and children who carried baskets of produce. Surrounding agricultural fields, blue helmets with rifles were poised to thwart any threats to the workers.
For years, the region has been plagued by conflict between rebel groups, self-defense forces and other militias. The M23 terror group in particular is active in the area, and the farmers, many displaced from their homes by conflict, welcome MONUSCO’s protective presence.
“I came here because of the presence of MONUSCO,” 23-year-old Lokana Heritier, who lives in the Djugu territory, told Reuters. “It’s thanks to their presence that I’m going to the field; otherwise, I’m afraid.”
Ituri is among the eastern DRC provinces facing crisis or emergency levels of hunger due to ongoing conflict, displacement and disrupted agricultural production. More than 7 million people in eastern DRC have been displaced by violence, half of them children, according to Save the Children.
Known as “Secure Harvest,” the MONUSCO operation guards farmers who mainly grow corn, beans, potatoes and manioc. It aims to let them farm freely during the harvesting season.
“In case of a problem we only need to ping them and then MONUSCO calls us,” another farmer told Reuters. “We give them the location where the attack took place. They intervene quickly … they are so close, we only need to give them the sign, we give them the early warning and they intervene.”
Brig. Gen. Monzurul Alam, a MONUSCO commander, said the idea to form the mission was conceived in 2022.
“We had seen and assessed the operational situation in our area of responsibility,” Alam said. “We have seen that during the harvesting season — that means October, November and December — the population goes to the fields for harvesting their agricultural goods. The perpetrators, the armed groups, take this opportunity to incur into the agricultural fields and loot the assorted items from them. There have been a lot of killings, also.”
Deployed in the DRC since 2010, the 13,500-strong MONUSCO force has faced scrutiny over perceptions that it did not adequately protect the population. President Félix Tshisekedi pushed for the complete withdrawal of the mission by the end of 2024, but the U.N. Security Council in late December extended the mission’s mandate by one year, due mainly to concerns about the M23.
In early January, the M23 gained control of Masisi, a strategic town and local administrative center about 80 kilometers from the major city of Goma, in North Kivu province, which borders Ituri. At least seven civilians were killed.
Local sources told Al Jazeera that fighting has displaced thousands of people who now are seeking shelter in surrounding areas, including Goma, which already hosts 4 million displaced people.
Bintou Keita, civilian head of MONUSCO, condemned the ongoing violence.
“This escalation of violence, which cruelly affects civilian populations, constitutes a tragic turning point at the goal of the year 2025 and must stop immediately,” Keita said in a statement. “I express my most sincere condolences to the families of the victims of these atrocities.”
According to France 24, the M23 recently captured other North Kivu towns, including Alimbongo, which has more than 20,000 residents, and Bingi, which has 60,000 residents.
“These are remote areas, where there are few journalists and most people don’t have phones,” Baraka Héritier, a journalist based in Goma, told France 24. “There are villages, like Bingi, for example, where there isn’t even a phone network.”
By mid-January, violence involving the M23 had spread to the North Kivu territories of Masisi, Lubero and Nyiragongo. In Lubero, Congolese forces are using fighter planes and combat helicopters to bomb rebel territory.
“The army has been going to great lengths to try and unseat the rebels in this region — aside from the planes, they are also using heavy artillery,” Martial Bendelo, a journalist for television channel Télé 50, told France 24. “The rebels are holding tight, in spite of the bombing. They haven’t pulled out of any villages for the time being. However, the bombing is having a serious impact on civilian populations, many of whom have fled combat zones.”
