Troops Deployed To Gabon To Respond To Potential Election Violence In DRC

The U.S. military has deployed troops to Gabon in preparation for possible election violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, reports the Stars and Stripes.

About 80 military personnel and “appropriate combat equipment” arrived in Libreville, Gabon, on Jan. 2 to provide security to U.S. citizens and diplomatic facilities in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, President Donald Trump told Congress on Jan. 4.

Additional forces may be deployed if necessary and “will remain in the region until the security situation in the DRC becomes such that their presence is no longer needed,” Trump said.

The DRC held its presidential election on Dec. 30 and is expected to release provisional results this week, reported Reuters. 

On Sunday, election officials said they had received only 47 percent of ballots from polling stations across the country, forcing them to postpone an announcement of the results until later in the week, reported the Voice of America News.

Some experts have raised concerns that the results may have been rigged and could result in civil unrest similar to elections in the Congo in 2006 and 2011.

DRC President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power for 18 years, vowed to leave office, although he would still remain active in the polls. If successful, this will be the first peaceful transition from power since 1960.

On Jan. 3, the U.S. State Dept. threatened to impose sanctions against those responsible for undermining the electoral process.

On Monday, U.S. Africa Command said that a failed coup attempt in Gabon had not changed the mission for the U.S. contingent. Gabon hosts one of AFRICOM's cooperative security locations, which serve as launch pads for quick-reaction forces ordered to secure U.S. diplomatic facilities in the region.