Mobilizing troops to aid the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government forces

Angola announced on 12 November 2008 that it is mobilizing troops to aid the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government forces in their fight against Laurent Nkunda's rebel National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). Angola's commitment follows a DRC request for political and military support on 29 October; African countries also discussed sending military advisors to the DRC at a Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Nairobi, Kenya, on 7 November. The announcement has heightened fears in the region that the DRC's civil war will widen into a regional conflict, as Rwanda could see the presence of Angolan troops in the DRC as a provocation; Rwanda tacitly supports Nkunda's CNDP in its fight against the Rwandan Hutus who perpetrated the 1994 genocide and then fled to the DRC. At least 250,000 people have been displaced by the conflict since fighting resumed in late August 2008. The CNDP declared a ceasefire in October 2008, but fighting is ongoing throughout the North Kivu province.