This archive report was first published on 25 October 2019.
On Friday, October 25, 2019, the United Nations (UN) made it clear that it would not support any foreign military intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The statement came after a meeting of senior military officials from five Great Lakes nations, including Burundi, the DRC, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
According to a letter seen by AFP, the DRC had been considering joint military operations with its neighbours to 'eradicate armed groups' in the east of the country.
However, Leila Zerrougui, the head of the UN's peacekeeping mission in the DRC, stated that the organisation could not lend support for foreign forces intervening in the country.
'We have no mandate to support foreign forces who enter the DRC,' she said on the UN station Radio Okapi.
'Our mandate is to support the Congolese army.'
She added that the best way to protect the civilian population was to restore state authority, justice, the police, and the army, while respecting human rights.
The UN's mission in the DRC, Monusco, is one of its largest deployments, with over 17,000 blue helmets in the country.
