UN pauses support for DR Congo campaign against rebels over abuses

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The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo has paused support to Congolese troops for operations against Rwandan rebels because two of the generals involved are accused of human rights abuses, a U.N. official said on Tuesday.

“The U.N. Mission in the DRC has raised concerns linking two FARDC (Congolese army) generals to human rights violations, and therefore we have paused our support to FARDC on anti-FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) operations,” the official told Reuters.

The United Nations was in high-level contact with the Congolese government and confident a solution could be reached, he said. U.N. peacekeepers are still supporting other Congolese operations not linked to the planned offensive against the FDLR.