The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the state organisation responsible for defending the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FARDC was rebuilt patchily as part of the peace process which followed the end of the Second Congo War in July 2003.
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or MONUSCO, is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). At the request of the DRC's government, it is withdrawing completely from the country by the end of 2024.
The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda is an armed rebel group active in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. As an ethnic Hutu group opposed to the ethnic Tutsi influence, the FDLR is one of the last factions of Rwandan rebels active in the Congo. It was founded through an amalgamation of other groups of Rwandan refugees in September 2000, including the former Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALiR), under the leadership of Paul Rwarakabije. It was active during the latter phases of the Second Congo War and the subsequent insurgencies in Kivu.
The Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) is the military force of the United Republic of Tanzania. It was established in September 1964, following a mutiny by the former colonial military force, the Tanganyika Rifles. From its inception, it was ingrained in the troops of the new TPDF that they were a people's force under civilian control. Unlike some of its neighbouring countries, Tanzania has never suffered a coup d'état or civil war.
Babacar Gaye is a disgraced Senegalese Army General who formerly led the United Nations MINUSCA peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic from July 2014 to August 2015, when he was dismissed for alleged abuses committed by troops under his command. Gaye previously the led UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, led Senegalese troops in the Gulf War, served as the head of Senegalese external intelligence, and served as the Senegalese ambassador to Germany.
The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including neighboring Ituri province, there are more than 120 different armed groups active in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently, some of the most active rebel groups include the Allied Democratic Forces, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, the March 23 Movement, and many local Mai Mai militias. In addition to rebel groups and the governmental FARDC troops, a number of national and international organizations have intervened militarily in the conflict, including the United Nations force known as MONUSCO, and an East African Community regional force.
The M23 rebellion was an armed conflict in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), that occurred between the March 23 Movement and government forces between 4 April 2012 and 7 November 2013. It ended when a peace agreement was made among eleven African nations, and the M23 troops surrendered in Uganda. The rebellion was part of continued fighting in the region after the formal end of the Second Congo War in 2003. The conflict reignited in late 2021 after rebel "general" Sultani Makenga and 100 rebel fighters attacked the border town of Bunagana but failed. A few months later, with a much larger force, the rebels of the M23 movement renewed their attack and captured Bunagana.
The March 23 Movement, often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army, is a Congolese rebel military group. Based in eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), it operates mainly in the province of North Kivu, which borders both Uganda and Rwanda. The M23 rebellion of 2012 to 2013 against the DRC government led to the displacement of large numbers of people. On 20 November 2012, M23 took control of Goma, a provincial capital with a population of a million people, but it was requested to evacuate it by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region because the DRC government had finally agreed to negotiate. In late 2012, Congolese troops, along with UN troops, retook control of Goma, and M23 announced a ceasefire and said that it wanted to resume peace talks.
India has taken part in more than 49 Peacekeeping missions with a total contribution exceeding 200,000 troops and a significant number of police personnel having been deployed and more than 160 Indian peacekeepers have died serving under the UN flag as of September 2022. In 2014 India is the third largest troop contributor country [TCC] with 7,860 personnel deployed with ten UN Peacekeeping Missions of which 995 are police personnel, including the first Female Formed Police Unit under the UN. Even in the year 2024, India has been the biggest contributor of personnel deployed across 12 UN peace-keeping missions across the world. At 5,901, India had sent the highest number of military personnel for United Nations peace-keeping missions as of December 31, 2023, data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Indian Peacekeepers were previously lauded by the UN for their efforts in preventing a carnage in the South Sudan conflict which resulted in the death of two of its soldiers.
Divisional general Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz is a Brazilian military officer who previously held the post of Force Commander of the United Nations' peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 17 May 2013 and replaced by Derrick Mbuyiselo Mgwebi on 29 December 2015. He was Minister-Secretary of Government of Brazil, nominated by President Jair Bolsonaro, from 1 January 2019 to 13 June 2019.
Chander Prakash Wadhwa SM, VSM, is a senior Indian Army Lt. General who was Force Commander of MONUSCO, the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He served from August 2010 until 31 March 2013.
The United Nations Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) is a military formation which constitutes part of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). It was authorized by the United Nations Security Council on 28 March 2013 through Resolution 2098. Although it is not the first instance in which the use of force was authorized by the UN, the Force Intervention Brigade is the first UN peacekeeping operation specifically tasked to carry out targeted offensive operations to "neutralize and disarm" groups considered a threat to state authority and civilian security. In this case, the main target was the M23 militia group, as well as other Congolese and foreign rebel groups. While such operations do not require the support of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), the Force Intervention Brigade often acts in unison with the FARDC to disarm rebel groups.
6 South African Infantry Battalion is an air assault infantry unit of the South African Army.
Lieutenant General Channira Bansi Ponnappa, PVSM, AVSM, VSM is a retired general officer of the Indian Army. He last served as the Adjutant General of the Indian Army. He previously served as the General Officer Commanding of the XI Corps. The general officer is also the Colonel of the Mahar Regiment. As a UN peacekeeper, he is known for his role as commander of the United Nations' MONUSCO forces in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the M23 rebellion.
Major General Jean-Lucien Bahuma Ambamba (1957–2014) was a Congolese army officer. Bahuma, described as an "exceptional soldier" by Le Potentiel and one of the Congo's "most popular and reform-minded officers" by The Economist, commanded the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) in the provinces of North and South Kivu during the M23 rebellion and Allied Democratic Forces insurgency.
Lieutenant General Obed Boamah Akwa is a retired Ghanaian military officer who served as the Chief of the Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces from February 2017 to February 2021. Prior to his appointment, he was the Chief of Army Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces.
Muhammad Muhsin Alam, ndc, psc, is a retired brigadier general in the Bangladesh Army. Brigadier Alam commanded two infantry battalions of the Bangladesh Army. He also served as the brigade commander of an infantry brigade. He commanded, the only para commando brigade of the Bangladesh Army. He served in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the Northern Sector Commander of MONUSCO.
Mamadou Mustafa Ndala was a colonel in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In late March 2022, the March 23 Movement (M23), supported by Rwanda, launched an offensive in North Kivu against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and MONUSCO. The fighting displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians and caused renewed tensions between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
Yusufu Eric Mboneza, more commonly called Yusuf Mboneza, is or was a Congolese military officer and rebel. During his career he served in the Rally for Congolese Democracy, the National Congress for the Defence of the People, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and finally the March 23 Movement.
