Seoul, Jan 31 (IANS) South Korea plans to issue a travel ban for an eastern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to intensifying fighting between government and rebel forces in the country, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
The Level 4 travel ban, the highest of the country’s four-scale travel warning system, will take effect Saturday for the Central African country’s North Kivu Province, according to the ministry.
South Korea will maintain a Level 3 alert and special travel advisory for other parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Under a Level 3 alert, Seoul recommends citizens to leave the area.
The Central African country has recently been roiled by unrest as the M23 rebel group has been engaged in armed conflict with government forces, Yonhap news agency reported.
Earlier on January 30, Felix Tshisekedi, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), promised a “vigorous response” to the advances of March 23 Movement (M23) rebels in eastern DRC, amid peace efforts by regional groups.
In his address on national television, Tshisekedi stated that “a response is underway” to reclaim every inch of DRC territory. The M23 had claimed to have taken control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, a regional hub.
Since Sunday evening, violent hostilities had been observed throughout Goma, which had about 1 million residents, including over 700,000 internally displaced people living on the outskirts in already difficult conditions.
According to sources, M23 rebels had seized several key facilities on Monday, including the airport, the port, and a local DRC army base.
The United Nations had also expressed deep concern about the M23 rebel group advancing towards South Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a UN spokesman said.
“We are deeply concerned by the situation in South Kivu particularly, which remains very volatile, with credible reports that the M23 is moving rapidly towards the city of Bukavu,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, during a daily briefing. Bukavu is the capital of South Kivu province.
“Our colleagues in the peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) said there were reports of Rwanda Defence Force cross-border movements in that direction,” he said.
MONUSCO had withdrawn last year from South Kivu under a revised Security Council mandate at the request of the DRC government.
Dujarric stated that clashes were reported between the rebel M23 and the Congolese armed forces, as well as allied forces, south of Minova in South Kivu.
“Our colleagues were also concerned about humanitarian and security risks, particularly inter-ethnic conflict, in the absence of UN peacekeeping forces in that area,” he added.
–IANS
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