The troops are doing everything possible to protect civilians in the cities of Goma and Sake, after intense fighting was reported this week on the outskirts of the latter, said the spokesman for the Secretary General (António Guterres), Stéphane Dujarric.
MONUSCO has reinforced its presence in Sake by deploying additional battalions to support the Congolese armed forces, and is supporting the security of a humanitarian corridor in the Mweso area to allow the movement of civilians to safer terrain, the spokesman said.
Amid violence in the region, in recent days, the UN force was the center of protests and violent actions in Kinshasa after being accused of not fighting the M23.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba, insisted that MONUSCO is committed to fighting the rebels.
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