Operation Artemis
| Operation Artemis | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Ituri conflict | ||||||
_-_Ituri.svg) Location of Ituri within the Congo |
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| Belligerents | ||||||
| Lendu tribe |
Hema tribe: Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) |
 Democratic Republic of the Congo MONUC Artemis |
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Operation Artemis was a short-term European Union-led UN-authorised military mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the Ituri conflict. The deployment of EUFOR troops quickly decreased the conflict's intensity. It marked the first autonomous EU military mission outside Europe and an important milestone in development of the European Security and Defence Policy.
During the Second Congo War, the Ituri conflict occurred in the Ituri Region alongside Lake Albert and the Ugandan border. The Ituri conflict was fought between two non-governmental informally organised ethnic groups, the Lendu and Hema, that had caused the deaths of thousands of people by 2003.
In 2003, Lendu and Hema militias were battling for control of the town after Ugandan troops withdrew after the signing of a peace agreement, and Congolese police fled. During discussions regarding the deployment of an international force, UN Security Council diplomats were mindful of a repetition of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. Following a series of massacres, including the Bogoro attack of February 2003, and reports by the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) of serious human rights abuses, the Security Council adopted the Resolution 1484 on 30 May 2003 and authorised the deployment of a French led Interim Multinational Emergency Force (IMEF) to the regional capital of Bunia.
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