DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi declared a month of martial law in two eastern provinces amid a surge in violence that has left hundreds of people dead this year.
Congo’s army and police will take control of North Kivu and Ituri provinces from May 6 in an attempt to stem the bloodshed and return order to the region, the president said in an address on national television Monday.
Tshisekedi called on the people of the two provinces “to cooperate closely with the military authorities deployed by denouncing enemies of the people and complicity at whatever level” with those perpetrating violence.
Eastern Congo, which borders Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, has suffered from conflict since civil war erupted in the 1990s. Despite a peace agreement in 2003, at least 120 armed groups are now active in the region, which has a population of about 20 million people, according to the
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