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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
DRC: Interview with army Col Louis Ngizo Siatilo in Katanga
LUBUMBASHI, 13 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - In November 2005, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) army launched an operation to capture or kill Mayi-Mayi groups in northern Katanga led by a man called Kyungu Mutanga, alias Gedeon. He has been pillaging and burning villages, displacing tens of thousands of civilians. Five battalions of the 6th Military Region are taking part in the campaign. On 3 February, IRIN talked to the deputy commander of the 6th Military Region, Col Louis Ngizo Siatilo, in Katanga's provincial capital Lubumbashi. Here are excerpts:
QUESTION: How is the campaign against Gedeon going?
ANSWER: Most of Gedeon's men have fled the area they controlled [around the town of Dubie in northeast Katanga] and IDPs [displaced persons] there have already started returning home. The Mayi-Mayi have now moved to Lake Upemba National Park [250 km due west] and all but one [of five] battalions are following them there, where I think they are already doing well. Kilumbe [a town on the eastern shore of Lake Upemba] has been a strong point for the Mayi-Mayi and now I think that has fallen. We hope that in two weeks we will have concluded the whole operation.
Q: Mayi-Mayi groups recently started crossing Lake Upemba and attacking villages on the other side. Is the conflict spreading west?
A: Nyonga [a town on the west side of the lake] had been out of the operational area so as to protect the IDPs there. But the threat [from the Mayi-Mayi] became imminent and so now we have sent an advanced platoon [35 troops] and soon a whole company [125 troops] will follow. We will then begin to clean the whole park [of Mayi-Mayi] step by step.
Q: How can so few soldiers contain such a large area of lakes and marshes, most of which can only be reached by canoe?
A: Indeed the area is vast and surrounding the Mayi Mayi would require large amounts of troops and the cost of such an operation would be too high. Plus we just don't have enough troops. The main trouble is that we keep sending them for brassage [integrating various former rebel groups and militias into the new national army]. About 15 percent of the 6th Military Region is going for brassage, which represents about 3,000 troops. We are also facing transport difficulties to send the troops to [the brassage centre] at Kamine. And not all of them will be integrated; most will be demobilised.
Q: The UN recently reported attacks by Mayi-Mayi allied with Gedeon at Etoya, 300 km east of Lake Upemba. Is that a whole new area of operation?
A: No. They are not Mayi-Mayi led by Gedeon but other smaller groups. There are two kinds of Mayi-Mayi: Those that are cooperative and those that are hostile. The hostile groups, if we were to follow them all around then we would have to abandon important towns and roads. Those that are cooperative we use as informants but we do not equip them.
Q: So from where do the Mayi-Mayi get their weapons?
A: We have captured mortars, RPG [rocket-propelled grenades] with binoculars and of course plenty of AKs. Firstly the Mayi-Mayi got weapons during the last war [in 1998 against Rwanda]. The former government distributed them to civilians without any controls. Secondly, we have deserters who sometimes take arms with them. Sometimes also the Mayi-Mayi attacks [the army] and succeeds in taking equipment.
Q: What about reports - UN Security Council report S/2004/551 - that some senior government and military officials are covertly supplying arms?
A: There are rumours but we have not found them to be true. What is true is that there are some senior politicians who are manipulating the Mayi-Mayi. They tell them, "Look, the government doesn’t care about you. You have to take hostages etc to draw attention to your plight." But these politicians are only using the situation to make themselves important, to have power.
Q: Why is this happening in Kabila's stronghold, right where his father was born?
A: [Laurent] Kabila became strong because he distributed arms here, as he did in the Kivus. But now [his son] cannot satisfy all those [who his father handed out arms to] and the politicians are not satisfied with what they are getting [from the younger Kabila]. They are using the situation to make themselves more important and make Kabila weak. And they know Kabila will never destroy this area because then he will have no base.
Q: Who are these politicians?
A: They are underground but we know they exist. You just can't prove it.
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but May not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
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