http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=10868
UN troops kill 60 militants in Congo ISN SECURITY WATCH (02/03/05) - As many as 60 militiamen have been killed in a pitched battle with the UN peacekeeping force in northeastern Congo, UN sources said on Wednesday. The clash between the UN peacekeepers and militants took place on Tuesday near the village of Loga, some 32 kilometers north of Bunia, the capital of the Ituri province. "While on operation we were fired upon, so we immediately responded," The Associated Press quoted Colonel Dominique Demange, spokesman for the UN forces in Congo, as saying. Some 200 peacekeepers were involved in the operation. Two UN troops were wounded in the clashes. UN peacekeepers have been deployed in Congo since 1999. Tuesday's violence was the largest direct armed conflict between militiamen and UN forces. According to the UN spokesman, the 60 militiamen killed in the fighting belonged to an ethnic Lendu group, the Nationalist and Integrationist Front, which has been accused of terrorizing the rival Hema tribe. The UN suspects that the same militiamen were responsible for the killing of nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers on Friday. General Jean-Francois Collot d'Escuries, chief of staff for UN troops in Congo, told reporters that the troops would continue their operations against the Lendu militia, which has forced some 70'000 people out of their homes. "Our forces will keep putting pressure on the ground until these militia are dismantled entirely," he said. The UN suspended its humanitarian assistance to 54'000 people due to violence and the killing of the peacekeepers. The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) has accused militia forces of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Ituri region. "After committing war crimes against our soldiers when they finished off wounded ones, they committed crimes against humanity by using civilians as human shields," a UN statement said, quoting a top MONUC officer in Kinshasa. "Investigations have begun to establish the blame and toll of these crimes ... and to build a case which will be sent to the International Criminal Court," General Collot d'Escury, the head of MONUC's chief of staff, told a press conference. Some 500'000 people have been killed and as many as half a million forced to flee their homes since the fighting began in the Ituri district in 1999. The UN peacekeeping mission had come under severe criticism for its passive role in the region. (By Ravi Prasad in Colombo) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
