ABSTRACT

On 28 March 2013, the United Nations (UN) Security Council (UNSC) authorised a Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) – its ‘first-ever “offensive” combat force’ – for deployment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 2 The FIB was mandated to undertake ‘targeted offensive operations’ 3 to ‘prevent the expansion of all armed groups, neutralize … and … disarm them’. 4 The FIB’s first reported offensive operations occurred in August 2013, when it supported the Congolese armed forces against the 23 March Movement (M23) rebel group by providing ‘ground troops, attack helicopters and artillery fire’. 5 The FIB also engaged in heavy combat with the M23 in October 2013, triggering its defeat. 6