UN permits evacuation of families of Burundi staff amid DRC violence

As violence rages on in the DRC, the UN has given the green light to the evacuation of families of its international staff from Burundi, according to a letter seen by news agency AFP.

The letter is dated February 21st;  since then, several flights have been chartered, a UN official said.

In recent weeks, the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have seized two important cities in eastern DRC.

The group has pushed ahead in its advance, and the fighting has inched closer to the Burundian border. The nation, which has backed the DRC with some 10,000 troops under a previous deal, has increasingly voiced concern.

This week, the Burundian President stated that his country was committed to resolving the differences between the two countries by peaceful means.

His comments came as military sources said that Burundi had stationed troops along its border, some ten kilometres from the M23 advance.

The mineral-rich east of the DRC has been plagued by conflict for more than three decades, since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.