UN aiding DRC police with patrol boat training to combat rebels

UN peacekeeping troops have started training Congolese police officers on using patrol boats on Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika

This move forms part of efforts to stem the movement of armed groups in eastern DRC, along the border with Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.

Uruguayan Riverine Patrol Company, which is part of UN’s mission in DRC (MONUSCO) is carrying out the training.

Eastern DRC has been home to a patchwork of rebel militias who have killed thousands and displaced millions in their quest for control of vast timber and mineral resources.

The patrols are expected to benefit other aid agencies who use the waters to transport their supplies.

#DRC: Monusco and Kinshasa forces resume full scale military ops against FDLR rebels in eastern Congo resume https://t.co/dMAtjvUHHo

— Vates Corp (@Vatescorp) May 29, 2016

MONUSCO is the biggest purely U.N. peacekeeping mission in the world with a force of about 20,000 troops and over 1,000 police.