U.N. troops come under fire in Congo's east
By Dino Mahtani
KINSHASA (Reuters) - U.N. soldiers deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo came under attack Monday in the dense forests of the troubled northeastern Ituri province, in the third such incident in less than a week.
U.N. personnel were shot at from the surrounding bush as they disembarked from a helicopter for a reconnaissance mission near Drodro, some 25 miles from Ituri's provincial capital Bunia.
A U.N. Mi-25 attack helicopter flying overhead responded with heavy fire and the U.N. soldiers were evacuated.
"There were no casualties as far as we were concerned, but we know that they (the attackers) were neutralized, although we are unsure how many of them were there," U.N. spokeswoman Isabelle Abric said by phone from Bunia.
Ethnic Hema militiamen operate in the area where the incident took place but Abric said the identity of the attackers had not been confirmed.
U.N. troops took over from a French-led European mission in the region last September. The troops were sent to Bunia to protect civilians from attacks by rival Hema and Lendu militiamen backed respectively by Congo's neighbors Rwanda and Uganda.
Over 50,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Ituri since 1999 as a result of the land dispute between Hema and Lendu communities.
>From Bunia, the U.N. soldiers have begun fanning out into the rest of Ituri in an attempt to pacify the countryside, but their deployment is making slow progress.
Friday, a U.N. attack helicopter was fired at repeatedly as it flew south of Bunia over Lendu territory, but it was not damaged. Last Wednesday, U.N. troops were shot at as they patrolled 16 miles north of Bunia in Hema territory, but they escaped to safety.
The violence in Ituri is part of Congo's wider war, which has left over three million dead since 1998, mainly through disease and starvation.
The conflict officially ended last July, although many armed groups still roam the east beyond the control of some 10,800 U.N. troops deployed in Africa's third largest country.
Both Hema and Lendu groups have promised to rein in uncontrolled elements as they strive to get their fighters integrated into a new Congolese army. But over 100,000 armed fighters are thought to be at large.
01/19/04 14:46 ET
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