In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), eight long years of armed conflict have plunged the country into turmoil and seen nearly four million people killed.
In 2006, the DRC finally engaged in a process of political restoration by organizing the country’s first democratic presidential elections. Unfortunately, the failure of the militias’ demobilization campaign and the creation of a new national army composed of an alliance of all armed groups were a handicap to the country’s recovery. It is in eastern Congo, in Ituri and Kivu, regions filled with mineral resources situated at the frontier with Uganda and Rwanda that the situation is at the more tense and deadly. In August 2007, fighting resumed between the national army and the ex-general Laurent Nkunda’s troops in the North Kivu province.