Insurgent groups strengthen links

A worsening security climate has reduced aid agencies’ access to vulnerable populations in war-affected areas of the DRC, humanitarian and security sources said. Various armed groups with national and regional links had recently intensified their military activities, resulting in a heavy death toll among civilians. Links between the Mayi-Mayi, Interahamwe, rebels of the Burundi Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD) and ex-FAR elements had been reinforced over the past few months, with several well-organised and coordinated attacks launched on major towns in eastern DRC, the sources stated. Meanwhile, intensified fighting in parts of Angola had led to a deterioration of the security situation in the southwestern provinces of Bandundu and Bas-Congo, with incursions of both UNITA rebels and Angolan army troops reported in Bas-Congo, they added.