Tanzanian troops arrive in Goma as part of UN intervention force in eastern Congo

GOMA, Congo – A United Nations spokesman says that some Tanzanian troops arrived in Goma as a first step in creating a U.N. intervention brigade.

Peacekeeping mission spokesman Lt. Col. Felix Basse said Saturday that around 100 Tanzanian troops have reached Goma. They are the first contingent of the new U.N. brigade to be deployed in eastern Congo, following a Security Council resolution in March.

The intervention brigade has an aggressive mandate that allows it to fight armed groups, rather than just defend civilians.

In November, the peacekeepers merely stood by as the M23 rebels seized the provincial capital of Goma. The rebels withdrew from the city two weeks later, but Goma's fall convinced the U.N. to create an intervention force in eastern Congo.