The UN's intervention brigade in eastern Congo has fired its first shots in anger. Since August 21st the force, which has an assertive mandate empowering it to squash illicit armed groups in the region, has teamed up with the regular army of the Democratic Republic of Congo to attack rebels recently threatening to capture Goma, the country's north-eastern trading hub which they briefly overran last November. Attack helicopters, artillery and ground troops, mainly from South Africa and Tanzania, have been pressed into action. The aim is to push the M23 rebel group, comprising Congolese army mutineers, far enough away from Goma that their rockets and mortars can no longer threaten the city and its people.
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