SADC delegation in Moliro to resolve the DRC-Zambia border crisis

A SADC delegation has been staying since Wednesday, July 22 in Moliro, located more than 350 km south-east of Moba (Tanganyika).
This delegation, composed of 15 members including civilian and military experts, will remain there for a week to resolve the crisis at the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia, according to the leader of the Moliro Grouping, in Moba territory ...
These experts who received the logistical support of Monusco, transited to Lubumbashi and spent the night of Tuesday, 21 July in Kalemie to leave the next day on Moliro.
The SADC Mission will have to visit Kibanga, Kalubamba, Moliro and Pweto, 4 localities on the Congolese side and Tshibanga, Tshimpunda and Musosa, 3 other localities on the Zambian side.
The SADC Delegation is coming to settle the crisis that broke out in March 2020 between the DRC and Zambia at the border of Moliro. Both countries have managed to deploy men and military equipment to the ready-to-go area.

Bertrand Bisimwa: ′′ M23 ex-fighters have never taken any fight initiative and do not intend to take it ′′

For him, there has never been a clash between FARDC and M23 in the Rutshuru. He accuses FARDC of taking summation shots to deter a potential enemy after fear ′′ made on social media ".
′′ Our ex-fighters are indeed in Rutshuru territory. Not to fight anyone less yet their FARDC brothers ", says Bertrand Bisimwa.
The President of the Movement of March 23 (M23), Bertrand Bisimwa announces it as several sources report clashes between its elements and FARDC in two territories in North Kivu.
According to Bertrand Bisimwa, if the M23 are in Rutshuru, it is because, first it is their country, then they are waiting like everyone else for the implementation of the peace agreements signed in Nairobi on 12 December 2013.
For him, there has never been a clutch between FARDC and M23 in the Rutshuru. He accuses FARDC of taking summation shots to deter a potential enemy after fear ′′ made on social media ".
′′ Ex-M23 fighters have never taken any combat initiative and will not take it. What happened yesterday in Rutshuru is the result of fear made on social media that led the FARD to take summation shots to mark their presence and deter a potential enemy. So there was nowhere in Rutshuru neither clashes nor fighting between FARDC and ex-M23 fighters ", he says.
Accused of collaborating with Codeco militia in Ituri, Bertrand Bisimwa, of M23 rejects all charges.
He calls not to manipulate opinion at the risk of ′′ causing the confusion that would lead to chaos ". Bertrand Bisimwa also says wait for Tshisekedi to implement the peace agreements.
′′ Our countrymen must stop manipulating opinion at the risk of causing a situation of confusion that would lead to chaos and the loss of human lives. We support the Head of State and remain convinced that he will be able to implement peace agreements to permanently bring peace back to the east of the country so that finally this part of the country begins its development and the development of its inhabitants ′′ says he.
This exit of Bertrand Bisimwa arrives as concordant sources reported clashes between his M23 fighters and the FARDC first at the village Bikenge, locality of Bugina, Kisigari group in the chiefdom of Bwisha on the edge with Virunga National Park on Tuesday July 21th and in Chanzu (Bunagana) this Wednesday, July 22th, still in Rutshuru territory.

Civilians alert DRC government of a rebellion in Rutshuru and nyirigongo...Please do not ask me if m23 attacked FARDC sections..just read!

The provincial coordination of civil society in
North Kivu, in an interview this Wednesday,
July 22, 2020, alerted to the reorganization
of the rebellion of the movement of March
23 (M23) in the territories of Rutshuru and
Nyiragongo, located in the northern part of
Goma city.
Edgar Katembo Mateso, first Vice-President
of the coordination, explains that the
presence of this rebellion has been reported
in these regions for almost a week. He also
claims that belligerents are becoming
increasingly threatening.
′′ It has been a week that we have been
getting alerts from Rutshuru and Nyiragongo
on a possible March 23 movement
reorganization (M23), and that this
movement is starting to be threatening,
while maintaining its action on ADF in Beni
and Ituri ", he said.
Last Tuesday, the Kivu Security Barometer
(KST) reported an attack by alleged M23
rebels against a position of the Armed
Forces of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (FARDC) in the village Binkenke, in
Bwisha chiefdom, in Rutshuru territory near
Virunga National Park.
The provincial coordination of civil society
states, for its part, that the balance sheet of
these clashes would be heavy, given the
loss of human life in the rebels as well as in
the army.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC),
through its spokesperson, Guillaume Ndjike
Kaiko, have confirmed the information.
However, he promised to pronounce himself
this Wednesday for details.
One local leader in Rutshuru laments"′′ History will remember that the M23 rebellion has just been reborn under the blessing of President Félix Tshilombo, I witness the populations of Rutshuru and Nyiragongo who kept alerting about a presence of the Rwandan army on our soil.".They believe tshisekede  is not serious with various  alerts of Rwandan army in north kivu and instead he keeps dinning with  the Rwandan authorities  whom this local leader says are buying  time to create chaos again.

Are CODECO militiamen in Ituri in close ties with ADF?

Codeco militia have occupied several groups
in the Mukambo chiefdom (Mahagi territory).
This is the Tuesday, July 21th alert from
local civil society. According to the same
source, this occupation dates back to
several months and allowed militia to
develop commercial activities in the region.
The militias, civil society, have established a
chain for the production and sale of palm oil
and woods to ensure their care.
′′ We are deploring this gravity of things.
Codeco militia have done everything to
occupy the Masongwa, Are, Ruvinga and
Muswa groups with a well-defined mission of
producing palm oil and wood. They are now
carrying out these activities calmly in the
locality of Kasingwa ", said, Solomon Unega,
president of civil society of Mukambo
Chiefdom.
The sale of the products exploited would
take place in some shopping centres in the
Djugu territory, including Kpandroma but also
in Uganda via Lake Albert.
′′ At the moment, they have accomplices
who come from the villages near Djugu to
collect the goods, so oil cans and go sell
them in large centres including Kpandroma.
That's why the section between Kaswiwa
and Kpandroma is under control of these
militia. This is to secure these accomplices
in order to make their markets well. You
have to make a simple observation in the
markets of border villages you will find that
palm oil has even experienced a price drop.
The second lane is traffic to Uganda. These
militia pass through the village Nyamonda by
Lake Albert.
We have repeatedly suspected night boats
on this part of the lake. We always wonder,
even fishermen alerted us to this. There
have been some specialized service officers
who are also complicit in facilitating traffic
at this level. These militias are now living
well at the expense of the punishable
citizens they hunted and killed there ",
explained Mr. Unega.
A few months ago, the government
suspected an complicity between Codeco
militia and ′′ some Ugandan rebels."
Civil society claims to have communicated
this situation to the authorities. ′′ We will not
accept that the population suffers while
these militia exploit our riches. The
Congolese state is already seized. We gave
an ultimatum of one week to use all means
to dislodge these militia from there. On the
contrary, we will suspend the payment of all
taxes. We need to deploy a large military
force to dislodge these militia from Codeco
", concludes the president of civil society of
Chief Mukambo.
Last January, national deputy Daniel Uma,
elected from Mahagi territory, reported the
presence of militia in the Theerali village
(Mahagi territory) where they sent
correspondence to some leaders of the
groupings, including Ruvinga, Musongwa and
Are in which they required them to
contribute weekly by food and not food for
their survival.
Three months later, in April, Mahagi elected
provincial deputy André Waroom, claimed
that these militia had occupied ten
localities. ′′ In Ang ' all's chiefdom, they
occupy Talitali, Ndimalo, Nyaleka villages. In
Walendu Waysi's chiefdom, they entered
Kambala, Gulu, Njala. The third chiefdom is
Panduru's where these assailants make the
law in Katanga and Nyaleka. ", he
enumerated.

Ituri province recorded on Tuesday, July 22, 2020 four new positive cases of Coronavirus,

Ituri province recorded on Tuesday, July 22,
2020 four new positive cases of Coronavirus,
says the report of the technical secretariat for
the fight against the pandemic reached  scores Which brings the number of
patients to 32 in this province, the city Bunia
being the most affected with more than twenty
confirmed cases, followed by the territories of
Mahagi and Aru. Yet the day before, the
Congolese Head of State Félix Tshisekedi
announced the lifting of the state of health
emergency decreed last March, which implies
the resumption of several socio-economic
activities which had previously been stopped.
Schools and universities should open their
doors by the beginning of August, while the
contamination rate is only climbing in this
province, fear specialists. Provincial authorities
have made it compulsory to wear masks in
public places, but other measures to protect
the population from contamination should be
considered

Sylvestre Ilunga asks for explanation from Félix Tshisekedi on recent army promotions and assignments.

The Congolese Prime Minister claims that the presidential orders dealing with army reorganizations, including the elimination of General John Numbi, should have been co-signed by him. A new rise of tension within the ruling coalition.
Sylvestre Ilunga asked for a meeting with Félix Tshisekedi on Tuesday to ′′ clarify ′′ what he describes as a ′′ situation of concern ". The Congolese Prime Minister says in a statement to have read ′′ to his surprise ′′ the presidential orders on the Army appointments released on Friday.
The head of government, who was on the move to Lubumbashi on that day, explains that these orders were countersigned by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Interior, Gilbert Kankonde Malamba, who was acting on his interim basis, while this ′′ falls under the control of the exclusive competence attached to the Prime Minister's quality ".
Iron arm FCC-Cach
Sylvestre Ilunga also insists that his counterseing is ′′ a guarantee of the balance of powers between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, who is the emanation of the National Assembly ".
Watermark of this unpublished public distance from the Prime Minister to a presidential decision, the arm's length between the Common Front for Congo (FCC, by Joseph Kabila) and the Coalition for Change (Cach, from Félix Tshisekedi): Sylvestre Ilunga, from the FCC, calls into question the legitimacy of the signing of Gilbert Kankonde Malamba, who is, he, from the UDPS (the party of Tshisekedi, member of the Cach).
The management of the FCC has shoved the nail, in a press release published in the wake of the Congolese Prime Minister, in which it believes that the Interior Minister should have settled for the ′′ handling of current affairs and not for signing ′′ Acts of high legal scope ". ′′ The FCC deduces that the drafts of these orders were prepared several months earlier, and that no emergency justified the contravention of an unauthorized temporary worker ".

DRS Sustainment Systems has won an almost $190 million US Army contract to manufacture the mobile integrated defeat system to guard ground forces against drone attacks

DRS Sustainment Systems has won an almost $190 million US Army contract to manufacture the mobile integrated defeat system to guard ground forces against drone attacks, the Department of Defence announced in a press release.
"DRS Sustainment Systems [of] St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a $189,828,895 ... contract for development, production, deployment and support of the Mobile-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System", the release said on Monday.
The Defence Department said work on the contract is scheduled to last for five years, with an estimated completion date of 30 July 2025.
At a US Navy surface warfare conference in January, Northrup Grumman engineer Kevin Knowles said his company was working on an airburst round compatible with certain US Navy surface ships’ 30-millimeter deck to develop new World War II-style 'flak' cannons to defend against swarming drone attacks with exploding shells ripping them with shrapnel steel.
Leonardo DRS specializes in electro-optical/infrared systems, naval and maritime systems, ground combat mission command and network computing, global satellite communications and network infrastructure, avionics systems, and intelligence and security solutions.

The UK's Navy has announced the formation of a new elite unit of the Royal Marines that will use "game-changing technology and weaponry" to operate in hot spots across the globe.

In June, a state-of-the-art uniform for Britain's Royal Marines was unveiled as part of the Ministry of Defence's Future Commando Force programme to modernise the branch.
The UK's Navy has announced the formation of a new elite unit of the Royal Marines that will use "game-changing technology and weaponry" to operate in hot spots across the globe.
In a press release on Monday , the Navy said that over 150 Royal Marines and Army Commandos are due to start training together this fall as part of the Vanguard Strike Company.
The joint training will come amid the implementation of the Royal Marine-related project, also known as the Future Commando Force programme, which the Navy said "will overhaul how the world-famous green berets operate".
The new unit, set to be deployed next year, is expected to operate in smaller, hi-tech groups, which will "give the UK a more agile and lethal capability, ready for missions anywhere in the world at a moment's notice", according to the Navy.
"This is about returning commando forces to their roots: to operate at reach and in all theatres, including the Arctic, as the spearhead of operations", the press release pointed out.
Commandant General Royal Marines, Major General Matt Holmes, for his part, touted the Vanguard Strike Company as a force that will be able "to operate and fight in a dynamic, technological era of warfare".
"We envisage several of these networked sub-units persistently forward deployed around the globe, with an array of sophisticated enabling capabilities, to present dilemmas to adversaries whilst supporting partners. These will all be at high-readiness, as a capable forward contingency force at the core of the Royal Navy's Littoral Response Groups", Holmes underscored.
The new strike force's formation follows last month's unveiling of sophisticated uniforms for the Royal Marines, as part of the Future Commando Force modernisation programme.
The US-made high-tech kit is 17-percent lighter, 60-percent faster-drying, and at least four times more breathable as compared to the previous uniform. The new kit's price tag reportedly stands at about £800 ($987).

UNC Bukavu sets plan for Peaceful March and Sit-In demonstrations in Support to Vital Kamerhe

The Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC) in the province of South Kivu, is hosting a peaceful march this Thursday, July 23, 2020, in the city of Bukavu.
In a letter to the Mayor of the city, the vital Kamerhe party indicates that it will also organize a sit-in on Friday, July 24, 2020, at the funu grounds in Kadutu.
These events are scheduled, in order to accompany the national president of this party; who appears this Friday in the 100-day trial, at the Kinshasa / Gombe Appeals Court.
′′ UNC is organizing a peaceful march and sit-in, to sympathize with our national president vital Kamerhe; in the so-called 100-day trial between him and the Public Prosecutor's Office; at the Kinshasa Gombe Court of Appeal. On July 23, 2020, peaceful march at 11 p. m from the party headquarters in the province, where a memorandum will be read and submitted. Friday, July 24, motorized caravan followed by a sit-in; which will start at 10 p.m. at the funu pitch, observance of the trial." say the source,also signed by Richard Bunani, Inter-Federal Secretary of UNC in South Kivu.
It should be noted that vital Kamerhe was sentenced on 20 June to 20 years of hard labour; by the TGI of Kinshasa / Gombe. His lawyers went on an appeal, and the next hearing is scheduled for Friday, July 24, 2020.

Josiah Obat replaces Cecilia piazza as head of new MONUSCO office in ITURI.Gorvenor of Ituri ,Jean bamanisa tasks him to end ADF-NALU insurgency in the province.

Last week,Monusco's brand new head  office in Ituri, Josiah Obat started his duties.
Following a meeting on Monday, July 20, 2020 with the provincial governor Jean Bamanisa Saïdi, this UN official reassured about the continued support of his institution for the stabilization of Ituri.
For this first official public activity, Mr. Obat was accompanied by the commander of the northern sector of Force Monusco, General Ali.
Various other topics were on the meeting's agenda, including the general security situation in the province, the launch of the DDR process in favor of the FRPI militia as well as the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ituri having reached the number of 28 confirmed cases.
Governor Bamanisa did not fail to return to the challenges to be taken up in his jurisdiction to put an end to the insecurity caused by the multiple cases of incursions by CODECO, ADF-NALU and other Mai Mai groups in the territories. by Djugu, Mahagi and Irumu.
Also during their meeting, the head of the provincial executive called for an increase in the envelope for stabilization projects to cover the vast territories of Djugu and Mahagi.
The provincial authority hailed the role played by the UN mission in this region as well as its development efforts through the rehabilitation of certain roads.
Josiah Obat, who performed the same functions in Beni in North Kivu, replaces Cécilia Piazza, she will head the Monusco office in Beni.