British military personnel playing a part in the Congo

Occupying a large chunk of the heart of Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country of excesses.

The world's 12th-largest nation occupies an area the size of western Europe, has land more fertile than almost anywhere on earth and counts gold, diamonds and oil among its natural resources. Even its copper deposits are in such abundance that it is said that their glow can be seen from outer space.

But for all the country's potential, it also faces problems on an equally vast scale. DRC has been embroiled in decades of conflict that have left millions dead and many millions more displaced and homeless.

Adding to the country's list of huge figures is the size of the United Nations mission based there.
 
Numbering 17,000 troops - soon to rise to 20,000 - the United Nations Organisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) is the world's largest deployed UN force and is tasked with keeping a lid on the numerous armed groups that kill, rape and steal from the civilian population.

And in among the mission's military and civilian representatives from 56 countries is a small team of British personnel playing an intrinsic role in bringing some kind of peace and stability to the massively troubled land.

Based at MONUC HQ in downtown Kinshasa, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Canning (Royal Artillery), Lieutenant Colonel Simon West (Scots) and Lieutenant Colonel Toby Ingram (Scots) head up multi-national teams sharing vital information with units at the heart of the fighting in the east of the country:

"The scale of the problem is matched by the scale of the country," explained Lt Col Ingram, who heads up MONUC's military information team, suggesting options for how the organisation can deploy its various assets.

"This is a country the size of western Europe, but it's also one which has only got 700km of usable roads.

"Physically it's a big challenge, but the complexity is enormous. In Rwanda [the genocide of the mid-1990s] it was simple as you had Hutus and Tutsis. This is a different kettle of fish because there are so many different groups."

Kinshasa itself has enjoyed relative peace since a battle was waged along its main boulevard in 2007. A 1,600-kilometre flight to the nation's eastern fringes, however, and it is apparent that the fighting is far from over.

Although the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) - the main recent agitators until the group split in January - have now been integrated into the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and the Congolese police force, new threats were quick to materialise.

In early May, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) launched attacks in the provinces of North and South Kivu, killing more than 100 people and displacing thousands from their homes. Further enemy forces in the shape of as many as 12 different Mai-Mai tribal groups also operate in the region.

MONUC's response was swift. In a joint operation involving FARDC troops under the direction of the Pakistani Brigade in South Kivu and an Indian Brigade in North Kivu, Op Kimia 2 was launched. The multi-front mission aimed to drive the rebels from the area to allow security to be established:

"Kimia 2 is going according to plan," said Colonel Guy Deacon (late Queen's Dragoon Guards), the deputy chief of staff for MONUC's eastern integrated headquarters. "The mission is to neutralise the FDLR and that is happening. The FARDC - with MONUC support - are tackling them to stop them being effective in their areas of interest.

"We haven't been able to stop their influence completely because we don't have enough FARDC or MONUC troops to maintain a presence in the areas we have moved into.

"The consequences of our success are the large numbers of internally displaced people, but in reality the number of refugees was roughly the same before the operation began. Depending on your view, it's a price worth paying to restore government authority in the Kivus, but it is something that we are always monitoring."

Britain is undoubtedly playing its part in providing a military response to the DRC's problems. But thanks to the hard work of staff based at the embassy in Kinshasa, it is also helping the Congo develop its woefully outdated infrastructure.

A two-man defence section - Lieutenant Colonel Tim Woodman (Royal Logistic Corps) and Staff Sergeant Simon Van-De-Peer (Adjutant General's Corps (SPS)) - operates alongside Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development staff to provide everything from English lessons for FARDC troops to major bridge repairs.

The United Kingdom's support to MONUC comes at a cost of around £250,000 per day, but Colonel Deacon insisted that the nation's dedication to a country thousands of miles away from the Army's main effort on Op HERRICK is entirely altruistic:

"Britain has no agenda in the DRC except to bring peace to the region," he explained. "So in simple terms, we just have a desire to do the right thing."

At a time when the world's focus is largely on the conflict in Afghanistan, it is easy to forget the immense suffering and front-line fighting taking place in the heart of Africa. There are certainly no quick fixes, but the peace being fought for by the United Nations will go a long way to helping a country with the world's lowest gross domestic product:

"There's a lot that doesn't get reported," said Lt Col Canning.

"For example, there's a village in North Kivu where 365 families have been moved out by one of the warring factions so that the armed group could move in. They have just been told to leave and the armed group doesn't care where they go. This is not an isolated case.

"In a strange way it almost seems that the country is moving back along the evolutionary scale because the signs of progress - like the roads and railways - are being taken back by the jungle.

"It is a big task, but we have to try and create the conditions where the Congolese have sufficient security to put the country back on its feet."

This article is taken from the September 2009 edition of Soldier - Magazine of the British Army.