DR Congo: A militia woman’s story of survival
By DW
26 December 2021 |
6:16 am
The green, fertile hills of eastern Congo are as beautiful as they are dangerous. This no-man's land is also home to militia woman Mama Faida. She carries a rusty AK-47 and bears the scars of brutal conflict. But she hopes her children have a brighter future ahead.
In this article
Related
27 Dec
For several months, the M23 rebel group has been pursuing an offensive in eastern DR Congo. The rebels are drawing ever closer to the provincial capital Goma, a city they conquered and briefly held during their last offensive 10 years ago. Our reporters spoke to residents of Goma who are still haunted by the fighting of 2012 and fear the rebels' return. Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure is growing on Rwanda, with DR Congo, France and Germany openly accusing Kigali of supporting the group – something it denies.
7 Jan
MONUSCO and the Congolese army want to counter the movements of the M23 rebels in the North-Kivu region as swiftly as possible, while Rwanda continues to deny its support of the group.
6 Jan
Prices of basic food commodities have doubled in the eastern Democratic of Congo. The spike is being attributed to the ongoing hostilities between government forces and M23 rebels. Among the affected areas is Bukavu, which lies in the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu.
17 Jan
Since opening in 2013, the Brasimba beer factory in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, has weathered two deadly Ebola outbreaks and numerous waves of fighting linked to the many rebel militias active in the dense forests around the town that regularly sever its supply routes.
21 Jan
Before dawn, crews from Kinshasa's sanitary police brigade armed with crowbars and aided by a bulldozer, set on demolishing makeshift stalls that crowd a busy intersection and a main artery of the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital.
19 Jan
There is wary hope for peace in troubled eastern parts of Democratic Republic of Congo. The decades long crisis has several underlying causes but what has dominated the headlines is M23 rebels maneuvers in the region. And truly they are at the center of the conflict.
18 Jan
The atmosphere at the Pentecostal church in the city of Kasindi in eastern Congo was upbeat on Sunday as hundreds gathered for a series of baptisms. The congregation swelled beyond capacity, forcing organisers to move the service outside.
19 Jan
Congo police thwarts protest denouncing slow M23 pullback
19 Jan
The UN said they were investigating whether the mass graves were linked to recent attacks blamed on a local militia group. The graves were found in the restive Ituri province, where violence has flared since December.
27 Jan
Father Victor Ntambwe is not content with just reciting psalms during mass on Sunday mornings in Congo's capital. With presidential elections just months away, he has more earthly concerns.
25 Jan
Amid already high tensions between Kigali and Kinshasa, Rwandan forces fired at a fighter jet from Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday which they accused of violating Rwanda's airspace.
26 Jan
The Rwandan government says it had to take "defensive measures" after a Congolese combat plane violated its airspace. The Democratic Republic of Congo says the incident amounts to an "act of war."
Latest
1 hour ago
Hungary wants to become a key producer of electric vehicle batteries. Government spending has attracted investments, including a new Chinese gigafactory.
3 hours ago
Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Saturday.
4 hours ago
Ecuador has witnessed heavy rainfall this year, causing almost 1000 dangerous events of landslides and flooding. The latest landslide buried dozens of homes in the country's Andean region.
4 hours ago
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko called for a "truce" without preconditions in Ukraine while warning about nuclear war.
4 hours ago
The security situation in Haiti has spiralled out of control since the shock assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, with the country increasingly beset by violence. Today, unrest has reached such levels that the United Nations is being urged to intervene and there has been a total breakdown of governance.
6 hours ago
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged the world's biggest crypto exchange and its CEO Changpeng Zhao with "willful evasion" of US law. Zhao has rejected the allegations against him.