of Kibumba; the combined army and UN assault killed approximately 64 M23 fighters. On 20 November 2012, 23 March Movement seized the provincial capital of Goma after the national army retreated. MONUSCO troops observed without intervening, as their mandate only allowed them to protect civilians. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called the situation "absurd", noting MONUSCO's greatly superior numbers, and called for the group's mandate to be revised. UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey said peacekeepers "cannot substitute" for the Congo national army, adding that the 1,500 UN troops in Goma held their fire because they did not want to risk civilian lives. 2013 In January 2013 chief of MONUSCO Herve Ladsous told the UN Security Council during a closed-door session that the mission plans to deploy three unmanned aerial vehicles in eastern provinces of DRC. US, UK and some other Security Council members were also supportive of the idea. However, Rwanda, which had denied allegations by UN experts that it has been supporting the March 23 Movement, opposed this proposal. Rwandan delegation informed the UN Security Council that Monusco would be a "belligerent" if it deployed drones in eastern DRC. Other diplomats, including Russian, Chinese, and some from Europe, also expressed reservations. They said there were unanswered questions about who would receive the information from the drones and how widely it would be disseminated, expressing discomfort at the idea of the United Nations becoming an active gatherer of intelligence. In March 2013, the United Nations Security Council authorized the deployment of an intervention brigade within MONUSCO to carry out targeted offensive operations, with or without the Congolese national army, against armed groups that threaten peace in eastern DRC. The brigade is based in Sake, North Kivu and is made up of a total of 3,069 peacekeepers. It is tasked with neutralizing armed groups, reducing the threat posed to State authority and civilian security and to make space for stabilization activities. The first Brigade was composed of three battalions, one each from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi with the Brigade being commanded by James Aloizi Mwakibolwa of Tanzania. On 30 July 2013, the March 23 Movement was given a 48-hour ultimatum by the UN to leave Goma area or face "use of force." Between 21 and 29 August, heavy fighting outside Goma left 57 rebels, 10–23 government soldiers, 14 civilians and one Tanzanian UN peacekeeper dead. Seven-hundred and twenty government soldiers