October 26, 2014-A top UN official has said that military action against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is inevitable if the January 2, 2015 deadline for voluntary disarmament is not met. Martin Kobler, head of the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) told the UN Security Council that, Taking this fight to the jungle will be long and difficult. It will result in many casualties. I, for one, do not want to see that. But it is up to the FDLR to prevent this scenario.

“They have two months and six days left to disarm unconditionally, and go to Kisangani transit camp as envisaged by the DRC government, or leave the country. On January 2, there will be no excuse for further delay. The credibility of the UN, the Congolese government and the region are at stake,” he added.

These remarks were made at the Third Joint Ministerial Conference on the Great Lakes Region and Southern African Development Community Meeting in Angola.

In October, reports Rwanda’s New Times, the Security Council rejected any calls for political dialogue with the FDLR and reaffirmed the need to arrest and bring to justice those responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The chilling self-proclaimed aim of the FDLR is to “finish the job” begun in 1994.