US embassy cable - 05KINSHASA1814

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001814 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KPKO, CG 
SUBJECT: FARDC 5TH BRIGADE BEGINS FIRST INTEGRATED MISSION 
AGAINST FLDR 
 
 
Classified By: PolOff TJNaber, reasons 1.4 b/d. 
 
1. (C)  The FARDC 5th Integrated Brigade of the 8th military 
region began its 
first mission, code-named North Nexus, against FDLR rebels in 
Virunga 
National Park, North Kivu, on October 31.  Also for the first 
time FARDC took 
the lead, with MONUC providing planning and logistical 
assistance, in an 
operation against "negative forces" in the Kivu provinces. 
According to a MONUC officer, 13 FDLR rebels surrendered the 
first day and 
are now being screened by a MONUC DDRRR team for possible 
repatriation to Rwanda. 
Sources also state that five FDLR camps were destroyed.  The 
mission, which could 
last two weeks, aims to evict such negative forces from the 
Rutshuru 
region of North Kivu. 
 
2. (U)  The press indicate that Mai Mai fighters, associated 
with the 
notorious "Jackson," are also being disrupted in the 
operation. 
 
3. (C)  According to DAO, General Amisi, head of the 5th 
Brigade, is 
committed to the eviction mission and has instructed his 
junior leadership of 
the mission's importance.  DAO said that Virunga National 
Park is most likely 
home to small operational bases, not large ones as found to 
the west in 
Walikale.  If the FDLR rebels are pushed out of the park, 
according to DAO, 
it is possible they will flee to the south and take revenge 
on civilians. 
 
4. (C)  Comment: This is the first military operation 
involving an 
integrated FARDC brigade in either North or South Kivu, and, 
with the FARDC units 
apparently in the lead, it has been the desired model for 
Kivu operations for 
a long time.  We (the U.S., CIAT, and Joint Security 
Commission members) 
have been pressing the Congolese for some time to deploy 
integrated brigades 
and use them against rebels in the east.  While it is 
unrealistic to expect 
too much from troops who are still not regularly paid or fed, 
such an 
offensive operation by the FARDC in the Kivus is welcome news. 
MEECE