UN to send 3,100 more troops to DR Congo

The United Nations is to send almost 3,100 extra peacekeepers to the Democratic Republic of Congo, following a unanimous decision by the UN Security Council. The Congolese mission was already the world’s largest UN force, but of the 17,000 troops already in the country only around 5,000 are stationed in the troubled North Kivu province.

Fighting between government forces and Tutsi rebels there has forced more than a quarter of a million people from their homes since August. Aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian disaster.

The UN mission leader in Congo had asked for 3,000 more troops six weeks ago, arguing that the existing force was being stretched to its limits.