(MONUC) Thursday, 20 November 2008 , The Security Council today authorized a temporary increase of more than 3,000 blue helmets serving with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to deal with the violence in the country’s east, which has displaced an estimated 250,000 civilians in recent months.
The extra 2,785 troops and 300 police officers will buttress the 17,000 uniformed personnel already serving with the mission (known as MONUC), the largest UN force worldwide but one faced with the task of quelling unrest and protecting civilians in one of Africa’s largest countries.

Council members voted unanimously this morning for a resolution authorizing the extra numbers following a request from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who, along with other senior UN officials, has said that existing troop numbers in MONUC are inadequate to deal with the scale of the fighting and unrest.

Alain Le Roy (ninth from left), Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, accompanied by Alan Doss (left), Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Head of the United Nations Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC), visits the Mugunga II camp of the Internally Displaced Persons to asses the impact of the ongoing unrest.

The resolution authorizes the extra troops and police officers until 31 December, adding that the duration of the stay depends on the security situation in DRC’s North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.

MONUC is especially active in North Kivu, which borders Rwanda and has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent weeks between Congolese military forces (FARDC) and a rebel militia known as the CNDP, which is led by renegade army general Laurent Nkunda. Other militia groups, including the Mayi-Mayi, have also been involved in clashes, some of which have been along ethnic lines.

The fighting has forced hundreds of thousands of locals to flee their homes, and UN aid agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been working to provide relief to civilians.

Mr. Ban’s Special Envoy on the issue, the former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, has held talks over the past week with Mr. Nkunda and regional leaders, including DRC President Joseph Kabila, to try to devise a political solution to the conflict. Let’s hope that this new measures really can help the situation on the ground better.

The below are some of the recent photos from the D.R. Congo, to see how much the suffering is holding the ordinary people on the ground. Photos are from the AP/Reuters for illustrations and are subject to exclusive copyright of respective owner.

A man transports furniture on a wooden scooter near Goma in eastern Congo, November 24, 2008. Civilians on both sides of the front lines in eastern Congo are being killed, raped and abducted by both Tutsi rebels and government troops despite a lull in fighting, human rights campaigners said on Monday.

Helicopter prepares to pick-up the members of the Indian battalion of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), en route to the joint border patrol duties with the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) third Brigade and eleventh Battalion.

Member of the Indian battalion of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) plays with the village boys, as he waits for the repair of a generator used to power the film projector.

Helmet and a rifle of a member of the 1 parachute battalion of the South African contingent of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).

Members of the Indian battalion of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) and the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) of the eighty third brigade and the second battalion, on joint border patrol, as local residents go about their daily chores.

People displaced by fighting wait for aid to be distributed at the village of Ntamugenga in eastern Congo, November 24, 2008. Civilians on both sides of the front lines in eastern Congo are being killed, raped and abducted by both Tutsi rebels and government troops despite a lull in fighting, human rights campaigners said on Monday.