The Democratic Republic of the Congo's General Inspectorate of Mines announced plans to create a paramilitary "mining guard" to protect mining sites and mineral shipments across the country with funding from the United States and the United Arab Emirates, Bloomberg reported on April 27. The inspectorate refused to specify whether the source of U.S. and Emirati funding would be public or private, but it laid out plans to deploy 3,000 personnel by the end of 2026 and 20,000 by 2028, before adding that the mining guard would begin operations in the mineral-rich Katanga region.

Congo stands as a leading producer of cobalt, copper and coltan, but the country's mines face high levels of insecurity due to incursions from illegal miners and poor/absent safety protocols.