In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), fighting continues among various rebel armies, tribes, the Congolese army and U.N. forces. The dire situation has prompted the government of DR Congo to ask for help, and invite the armies of neighboring South Sudan, Rwanda and Uganda to enter their territory on several joint operations, to hunt down and pacify or dismantle at least two major rebel armies operating in the lawless border region. Rebel leader Laurent Nkunda was captured in January by Rwandan forces, but his army is still active - and Ugandan troops are seeking out the rebel Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army, which has taken refuge in eastern DR Congo. Once more, caught in all of this are the local civilians, terrorized by fleeing and advancing troops of all kinds. Reuters photographer Finbarr O'Reilly has been traveling through the area, capturing some amazing photographs of the people involved. ( 38 photos total)
Ano Mboligikpelani, 12, holds her sister, Honrine Ngbadulezele, 2, in the village of Bangadi in northeastern Congo, February 19, 2009. Thousands of Congolese have fled their villages since December as Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels roaming the bush carry out massacres that have killed some 900 civilians in northeastern Congo during the past two months. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)
A Congolese man pans for gold on a riverside at Iga Barriere, 25 kms (15 miles) from Bunia, in the resource-rich Ituri region of eastern Congo, February 16, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #
A woman displaced by violence returns from collecting firewood at a camp near Minova in eastern Congo, February 12, 2009. Reports are trickling in from the Congolese bush as people reach larger towns with stories of the killings of civilians by FDLR rebels, who are being hunted down by a coalition of Rwandan and Congolese forces. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #
A displaced woman lies in a tent with her child at a makeshift camp in Kibati near Goma in eastern Congo February 13, 2009. Congo's military said more than 40 Rwandan Hutu rebels had died in an air raid, as a 3-week-old joint Congolese-Rwandan offensive sparked rebel reprisals which a rights group said had killed 100 villagers. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #
A fighter from the FDLR rebel group, which is being hunted by the Rwandan and Congolese armies, stands guard deep in the bush of eastern Congo, February 6, 2009. Rwandan Hutu rebels are melting into the forests of eastern Congo before advancing Rwandan and Congolese forces, in a sign the surprise joint offensive has little chance of quashing militia groups at the heart of 15 years of conflict. Picture taken February 6, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #
A woman who has recently undergone surgery sits at the general hospital at Dungu in northeastern Congo, February 17, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #
Children walk along a road above a camp for people displaced by violence near Minova in eastern Congo, February 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #
Internally displaced people gather at a market in the middle of a makeshift camp near Goma in eastern Congo February 11, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #
A woman stands outside her hut deep in the bush of eastern Congo February 6, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #
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