The Democratic Republic of Congo has extended the current martial law for the 45th time in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri where a decades-long rebel insurgency rages on.

The 15-day extension took effect on Sunday, according to Mishapi Voice Radio.

“According to Minister of Justice Rose Mutombo, who presented the bill to the Senate on Saturday, the objective is to allow the DR Congo armed forces to have all the means necessary to continue military operations and definitively put an end to the ever-persisting insecurity in this part of eastern DR Congo,” the radio reported.

The state of siege, a special martial law regime, was decreed in the two provinces by President Félix Tshisekedi in May 2021.

The aim was to rein in the runaway rebel violence in the two provinces by putting in place military administrations and heightening security operations.

A renewed rebellion by the March 23 Movement (M23) in North Kivu has compounded matters further as resources are diverted to counter the incursion.