The Democratic Republic of Congo was recently shaken by the arrest of 109 Mobondo militiamen on the Congo River axis, who are being prosecuted for several crimes including looting, arson and terrorism. The militiamen were operating on the river axis between the villages of Nkana, Mambutuka, Ibali, and Ngambe (Congo Brazzaville) and were transferred to the central prison of Bandundu.
This operation led by the FARDC is the result of an order from the President of the Republic who demanded that the authority of the State be restored in this region. To do this, the army reopened traffic on the Congo River and arrested militiamen, even those who crossed the Congo-Brazzaville shore and committed murders.
However, this operation was not without blame, since 12 soldiers, including 4 senior officers, were also arrested for slipping. Some soldiers were arrested for having killed and stolen the property of the population, instead of fulfilling their mission to secure the population.
This operation came at the right time for an area that had suffered numerous recent attacks, including around 100 people missing in a militia attack in Kaba village, as well as attacks on Kinsele, Menkwo and Tobakita villages in the month March, which claimed the lives of around 30 people, according to civil society in Kwamouth.
The FARDC operation was welcomed by General Bruno Mandevu, commander of the 11th military region in charge of operations, who declared that peace had been restored in this region. However, this operation also shows the shortcomings of the security system in the DRC, where poorly trained and corrupt soldiers are sometimes more dangerous for the population than they are for criminals.
In conclusion, this FARDC operation against the Mobondo militiamen shows that the Congolese State is capable of acting to restore order and security in the most turbulent regions of the country. However, this action also highlighted the structural problems facing the DRC in the field of security, which must be resolved to prevent this type of situation from happening again in the future.