Democratic Republic of Congo has banned mining operations in the country's east in a move aimed at undermining illegal networks fuelling the region's violence, the government said..."Much of the mining in this part of the country is linked to mafia-like groups that reinforce chronic insecurity, counter to efforts at stabilisation," the Ministry of Mines said in a release issued on Saturday. The statement said the ban would cover minerals extraction, processing and marketing in North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema provinces -- areas rich in coltan and cassiterite used in many of the world's mobile phones. No major mining companies operate in the three provinces...[C]oncerns that the proceeds from their sale support rebel groups responsible for recent massacres and rapes has led to new efforts to clamp down...Congo's suspension of mining in the eastern provinces could prove hard to enforce.