MONUSCO plans to build five modern military bases for the DRC's Armed Forces in the Beni region of North Kivu to increase their operational capacity to hunt down the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group.

The announcement was made on Friday, October 23 by the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the DRC, in charge of operations and protection.

"Quite right, [MONUSCO wants to build] five bases in this area. We are in discussions with the Congolese army about this," said David Gressly, who had just visited an FARDC base and the Semuliki bridge on the Mbau-Kamango road in the so-called triangle of death.

After flying over the area, he said he was also impressed by the condition of the road, which was rehabilitated by MONUSCO military engineers.

"At first, I was impressed by the fact that this road has been rebuilt and it was our engineers who did it, I noted several Congolese army positions all along to secure this road. I think what is important between us and the Congolese army is that we continue to find ways to protect the people who live along this road. I think we must continue to give this support, this reinforcement of modern bases to have a good result," said the UN Deputy Special Representative for Operations and Protection in the DRC. 

"We know that the ADF remains a major threat to the population. Therefore, we must continue to increase our capacity to deal with this threat," continued David Gressly, indicating that the construction of these bases should begin in January and February 2021.