A large-scale operation was launched by soldiers of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) in the eastern South Kivu province, to guarantee the security of the populations of the territories situated between Walungu and Kabare. As reported by international sources, more than 400 Pakistani and Guatemalan peacekeepers were mobilised to neutralise the armed groups active in the area, where the civilians are subject to continuous acts of violence. In the past weeks 19 people were killed in Nindja. Among the various factions, the area is also presided by thousands of Rwandan rebels attributed the 1994 genocide, which the MONUC has been unsuccessfully attempting to disarm for years. Today Amnesty International denounced that despite a UN arms embargo, in east DR-Congo large quantities of weapons continue being provided to local militias by firms based in Britain, Israel, South Africa, United States and East Europe.