Bloodshed in the Congo far from over

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sourced by Miriam Mannak

Even with notorious rebel leader Laurent Nkunda arrested, the chance of peace returning to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains rather slim,  especially now the Lord's Resistance Army is firing up it's actions.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the first three weeks of January has attacked 19 localities in the Congo's Haut Uele District, of the country's Orientale Province.

Houses were torched and pillaged; about 269 lives were lost and over 130 000 people were displaced. As their lives are at risk too, the main concern is the protection of civilians.

"Access is a major challenge especially during the rainy season which renders most roads impassable," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a media release.

The LRA, notorious for the recruitment of child soldiers, torture and terrosising the Ugandan population, has been involved in the  conflict since 2007. In 2005, the group sought refuge in the Congo after being indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Since there involvement in December 2007 until 17 January 2009, OCHA registered 896 persons killed and 711 civilians abducted, of which 540 were children.

According to the United Nations, the period between 24 December 2008 and 13 January 2009 was particularly lethal, with 620 reported casualties.

The conflict in the DRC, which has killed over 6 million people since 1998, is the bloodiest chapter in human history since World War 2.