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Guatemalan Special Forces shot during Operation Falcon Sweep targeting FDLR guerilla forces in and around Kahuzi-Biega National Park. Chifonzi, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Four year old violent rape victim in eastern Congo. This child was brutally raped and subsequently shot and left for dead. Miraculously she survived and for me represents the beauty and brutality of this troubled nation. 'The curse of gold' and other mineral wealth in the DRC has led in large part to the brutalization of the Congolese people by some of their more powerful neighbors. This image shows an open pit gold mine in Mongbwalu, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo Children play in the Lukuga River as it enters Lake Tanganyika at Kalemei, Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo Gurkha soldiers maintain their defensive positions near Nyazyale, North Kivu during a tense standoff with soldiers from the rebel 83rd Brigade who had sworn their allegiance to the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda. UN forces wanted to ensure that Laurent Nkunda was unable to address a political rally scheduled for later in the day. The 42 UN soldiers with whom I was embedded were outnumbered by well over 200 heavily armed Congolese. In the company of the 11 Gorkha rifles (11GR), renowned for their bravery and ferocity, I had little concern though I must admit to sensing a great degree of relief with each passing of a Russian MI-35 helicopter gunship that was providing additional firepower overhead.
For all of the criticism leveled at the United Nations, this photojournalist heard only praise and great concern for what might happen should MONUC (the UN in DRC) withdraw. The Congolese population is very much aware of the critical role being played by MONUC in ensuring 'relative' peace and stability particularly in eastern Congo. Pakistani reconnaissance in support of Operation Falcon Sweep in Ninja Forrest near Itutu, South Kivu, DRC Troops loyal to President Joseph Kabila retake the high ground around Sake in North Kivu after fighting broke out with troops loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda in late November 2006 Congolese (ANC) soldier defecting to MONUC in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo Moroccan UN troops on security patrol around Bunia, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo
Uruguayan UN troops on security patrol around Lake Albert seeking out arm smugglers and human traffickers plying the waters between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Pakistani soldiers dancing at the end of the last training day (before Christmas break of two days) for the FARDC's 1st Battalion of the13th Integrated Brassage Brigade at the Rawampara Training area outside of Bunia in Ituri District. These integrated troops have come from Mayi-Mayi, MRC, RCD-Goma, RCD-Kisingani, MLC and former government forces led by the late President Laurent Kabila. By, in part, encouraging traditional music and dancing the Pakistanis have helped foster a greater sense of comradeship amongst these desperate troops which is essential to their ability to become a coherent and unified fighting force. Senegalese Marine Commandos (UN) on patrol in Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo Mayi-Mayi militia child soldier registering with Congolese FARDC, facilitated by DDR, in Buniakeri, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo Meeting and interviewing FDLR (Forces Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda) political official Major 'Patrick' Habumuremyi for the first time near Kirbati, North Kivu. During the course of several subsequent meetings, whilst visiting Nyabiondo, I arranged to return roughly five weeks later and accompany the FDLR into the bush without security. Democratic Republic of Congo
Camouflaged FARDC soldier in Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo. The isolation which many UN soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo must work and live is represented by this image which shows two Bangladeshi officers (Major Mohammad Moinul Hossain and Captain Golam Mohuddin Haider) attempting to connect to the mobile network at the only spot on their remote military base at Aveba in Ituri District where a signal has been found by climbing a tower constructed for this purpose or hoisting a mobile phone skyward to send a text message using an ice-cream container tied to a piece of bamboo. Only in this manner are the men able to remain in touch with their families in Bangladesh which is so important to morale. Woman collecting firewood in Nabiando. A very dangerous but necessary undertaking that on many occasions has led to rape, abduction and murder. This woman actually has a baby tied in front of her. Kashebere, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo Nepalese UN soldier at sunset guarding the airport perimeter in Aru, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo Since 2004, Congolese FARDC troops supported by United Nations peacekeepers have conducted military operations against militia groups in Ituri that have refused disarmament and integration into the national army. The largest of these has been the Patriotic Resistance Force of Ituri (Forces de Résistance Patriotique d'Ituri, or FRPI). I actually had an opportunity to spend time with FRPI troops in the field (a quarter of whom were child soldiers) and accompanied a large number as they surrendered in Aveba.

I have recently returned from over six months in Central Africa where I worked for the United Nation's Department of Peace Keeping Operations assigned to the Office of the Spokesman and Media Relations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of my time was spent in Eastern Congo and particularly in the areas of greatest instability including Ituri District, North Kivu and Katanga. The DRC has been torn apart by a war that has been referred to as Africa's world war. The country witnessed Congolese forces backed by Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe fighting rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda resulting in the deaths of over 3.8 million Congolese since 1998. In support of peace and a transitional government, the United Nations (MONUC as it is referred to in the DRC) has deployed its largest peace keeping force in the world (17,000 troops) throughout the country albeit primarily in the volatile East. Over a six month period (July 06 - January, 07) I was embedded with numerous military contingents that comprise MONUC as well as the FARDC (Congolese military), Mayi-Mayi militia in Katanga and with the FNI and FRPI militias in Ituri. My father's work in Congo as a pilot flying around UN (ONUC) troops in 1960 and 1961 led me to first travel and initiate a significant book project entitled Blue Helmets in the Heart of Darkness for the United Nations in 2005 focusing on the critical role played by the UN in maintaining and ensuring relative stability throughout this most troubled but beautiful country.

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copyright © 2005 by Keith Philip Lepor. All rights reserved.