The Nationalist and Integrationist Front is a Lendu

Lendu

The Lendu, or Balendru, are an ethno-linguistic agriculturalist group residing in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the area west and northwest of Lake Albert, in particular the Ituri region of Orientale province. Their language is one of the most populous of the Central Sudanic languages...

 rebel group active in the Ituri conflict

Ituri Conflict

The Ituri conflict is a conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo . While there have been many phases to the conflict, the most recent armed clashes ran from 1999 to 2003, with a low-level...

 in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

. The FNI has fought against the Hema tribe and is blamed for the ambush and murder of nine MONUC peacekeepers near the town of Kafe

KAFE

KAFE is a 60 kW radio station located and licensed in Bellingham, Washington, USA, transmitting from Mount Constitution on Orcas Island...

 in February 2005. FNI political leader Floribert Ndjabu

Floribert Ndjabu

Floribert Ndjabu is leader of the Nationalist Integrationist Front in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo...

 was arrested by Congolese authorities, while military head Etienne Lona turned himself in.

The BBC alleges that in 2005, the Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

i MONUC peacekeepers in Mongbwalu entered in a trading relationship for gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 with FNI leaders, eventually drawing Congolese army officers and Indian traders from Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

 into the deal. It is further alleged that these peacekeepers returned weapons taken from the FNI as part of demobilization efforts to FNI leaders known for human rights violations.

A 2005 Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...

 report details the connection between the FNI and the mining corporation AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company. It was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation.AngloGold Ashanti Limited is now a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents...

, a subsidiary of the Anglo American plc. AngloGold Ashanti admitted that its employees had paid money to the FNI on more than one occasion, in exchange for access to gold mines in the Ituri province.

In May 2006, one MONUC peacekeeper was killed and seven were taken captive in fighting with the FNI. All of the UN peacekeepers were from Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

 and engaged in operations to disarm the militias 62 miles (100km) west of Bunia

Bunia

Bunia is a city in Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the headquarters of Ituri Interim Administration in the Ituri region of Orientale Province....

, the capital of Ituri. Two of the seven were released in June and the remaining five in mid-July. On 17 July the new leader of the FNI, Peter Karim Udaga, announced that he and sixty of his fighters were ending their battle with the government in exchange for the integration of FNI forces into the national army, including a post of Colonel for Karim.

The FNI, the Congolese Revolutionary Movement

Congolese Revolutionary Movement

The Congolese Revolutionary Movement is a rebel group in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.Laurent Nkunda, leader of the National Congress for the Defence of the People, allied with the MRC in July 2006...

, and the Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri

Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri

The Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri is a Beni-based armed militia and political party in the Ituri Province of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FRPI was established in November 2002 from the Ngiti ethnic group as an ally to the Lendu Nationalist and Integrationist Front...

 (FRPI) agreed to disarm on August 22, 2007. However, in 2008, several residents in Mongbwalu reported witnessing FNI militias being resupplied by Pakistani UN peacekeepers. The transfer of weapons was confirmed by two FNI leaders currently in prison - "Kung Fu" (Gen. Mateso Ninga) and "Dragon".