afrol News, 10 November - The UN envoy in Democratic Republic of Congo, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has pledged support to the Congolese government to root out armed militias in eastern part of the country.

Mr Obasanjo said an army offensive against Rwandan rebels had achieved reasonable success, however saying that the seriousness of the humanitarian situation could not be downplayed.

Last week, the UN mission withdrew its support for government army units implicated in killing civilians.

Mr Obasanjo told the UN Security Council that the mission has successfully averted tension which threatened to cause war in the region last year. But he also said that while the symptoms had been dealt with, there were underlying ailments in eastern DR Congo.

In June, The UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congolese troops decided to strengthen the joint military operation in the eastern DRC to root out illegally-armed groups.

The peacekeeping mission and Congolese troops have also discussed improvements in the protection for civilians in the area, as well as the disarmament and repatriation of the armed militia.

Eastern DRC has been plagued by violence since 1994, after notorious ethnic Hutu militia known as the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) fled prosecution in Rwanda after the genocide.

An estimated 6,000 FDRL fighters are reportedly settled in eastern DRC forests. The Hutu militia is put in connection with groups co-responsible for the Rwandan 1994 genocide and their activities in the DRC earlier has caused Rwanda to take military action across the border.