Security in Congolese Town Deteriorates
By ANDREW ENGLAND
.c The Associated Press
BUNIA, Congo (AP) - Despite the presence of 500 French troops, at least nine people have been killed and dozens abducted in the past week as security deteriorates in this unstable northeastern Congolese town.
U.N. human rights officials believe 48 people have been abducted in nighttime raids in Bunia since June 8, two days after a French-led emergency force began arriving, United Nations spokesman Manodje Mounoubai said Monday.
Mounoubai said there is no apparent pattern to the abductions, and the assailants have not been identified. But local people blame them on tribal fighters from several factions seeking to control Bunia, the capital of resource-rich Ituri province.
``The security situation in Bunia is worsening,'' Mounoubai said. ``Most of the information we have received is that the people carrying out these abductions are armed men in military clothing at night. Usually they go to a home and ask them (residents) out, and they never come back.''
The U.N. mission is also investigating reports that there are mass graves in the town. The body of one person has been found, and five people escaped attacks, Mounoubai said. Sources who are afraid to identify themselves say 23 of the 48 have been killed.
Another eight people have been killed in separate incidents, including a man who was hacked to death Sunday. Red Cross workers buried the man, Alphonse Musubi, under mango and eucalyptus trees in a deserted village on the outskirts of town.
Bunia - devastated by fighting between the Hema and Lendu tribes in recent weeks - is now controlled by the Union of Congolese Patriots, or UPC, a Hema militia group.
UPC leader Thomas Lubanga denied his troops were involved in the abductions and killings. He said he was meeting his commanders Monday to discuss the situation and would be pulling his troops - many of them children - out of town and into camps where they could be better controlled.
The French-led emergency force is under a U.N. mandate to secure Bunia and its airport, and to provide security for displaced people and aid agencies.
A 750-strong U.N. force in Bunia since April has a mandate to shoot in self-defense and has not tried to stem the violence between Hema and Lendu factions. The French-led force is authorized to shoot to kill, but analysts and residents say it also should be mandated to disarm tribal fighters and demilitarize the town.
So far, some 500 French troops have deployed, but their spokesman, Maj. Xavier Pons, said the force might not be strong enough to secure Bunia for another two weeks. ``The problem is, the airport can take only a limited number of flights a day'' bringing in troops and supplies, Pons said.
About 100 British Royal Engineers are expected to deploy soon at the badly maintained airstrip.
Bunia has been the scene of some of the worst atrocities in the 5-year war in Congo, which erupted in August 1998 when neighboring Uganda and Rwanda sent troops to support rebels seeking to oust then-President Laurent Kabila. The foreign troops, including those backing Kabila, have withdrawn, but fighting continues in eastern and northeastern Congo between rebel and tribal factions.
06/16/03 10:37 EDT
