UN seeks 'security guarantees' to monitor DRC ceasefire

KINSHASA - The UN on Tuesday sought "security guarantees" from warring parties in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to enable its soldiers to use a key airport for monitoring a planned ceasefire.

The conflict-plagued eastern DRC has seen an upsurge in fighting since late 2021, linked to the resurgence of the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group.

The DRC and neighbouring Rwanda signed a peace agreement in December in Washington but that has not stopped the fighting.

The accord provides for the United Nations mission in DRC, (MONUSCO), to monitor events on the ground with a view to implementing a more permanent ceasefire.

The mission is expected to be deployed in the coming weeks in Uvira, a town on the Burundi border that M23 seized in December before withdrawing under pressure from the United States.

The closest UN peacekeeping base to Uvira is in Goma, a major city in the east that fell to the M23 in January 2025.

Goma has an international airport that has been closed since the city was seized.

"We are not yet in a situation where there is an effective ceasefire in the east. Far from it. But there is a situation in Uvira where the M23 has disengaged," UN deputy secretary-general Jean-Pierre Lacroix told reporters during a visit to the Congolese capital.

"First, we will need aerial reconnaissance, then deploy a limited number of personnel on the ground in Uvira and then possibly deploy a more substantial presence," Lacroix explained.

Helicopters for reconnaissance missions would "probably need to be able to leave from Goma airport", he said adding: "The prerequisite is that we have security guarantees from all actors on the ground."

Aid workers operating in the area have asked for Goma airport to be reopened.

Nearly 8,000 UN peacekeepers are deployed in eastern DRC, including contingents from Kenya, Pakistan, South America, Tanzania and elsewhere.