<P> Maman Sidikou, the Secretary - General's Special Representative for DR Congo and head of MONUSCO, said that a tipping point into uncontrolable violence could come about very quickly if the political situation is not normalised . </P> <P> The inability of the state and the world's largest United Nations peacekeeping force to provide security throughout the vast country has led to the emergence of up to 70 armed groups, perhaps the largest number in the world, and a collection of mini-wars between them, especially in the remote east of the country . Armed groups are often accused of being proxies or being supported by regional governments interested in Eastern Congo's vast mineral wealth . Some argue that much of the lack of security by the national army is strategic on the part of the government, who let the army profit from illegal logging and mining operations in return for loyalty . </P> <P> Laurent Nkunda with other soldiers from RCD - Goma who were integrated into the army defected and called themselves the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP). Starting in 2004, CNDP, believed to be backed by Rwanda as a way to tackle the Hutu group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), rebelled against the government, claiming to protect the Banyamulenge (Congolese Tutsis). In 2009, after a deal between the DRC and Rwanda, Rwandan troops entered the DRC and arrested Nkunda and were allowed to pursue FDLR militants . The CNDP signed a peace treaty with the government where its soldiers would be integrated into the national army . </P> <P> In April 2012, the leader of the CNDP, Bosco Ntaganda and troops loyal to him mutinied, claiming a violation of the peace treaty and formed a rebel group, the March 23 Movement (M23), which was believed to be backed by Rwanda . On 20 November 2012, M23 took control of Goma, a provincial capital with a population of one million people . The UN authorized the Force Intervention Brigade (FIB), which was the first UN peacekeeping force with a mandate to neutralize opposition rather than a defensive mandate, and the FIB quickly defeated M23 . The FIB was then to fight the FDLR but were hampered by the efforts of the Congolese government, who some believe tolerate the FDLR as a counterweight to Rwandan interests . </P>

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