French enter the DRC

[Djinn Raffo]

Some really horrific stories about what has been occuring in the Congo including cannabalism. France has taken the lead here and troops are expected from Canada, South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria and Pakistan to help the MONUC troops. The MONUC troops were only supposed to be allowed to fight if attacked. Hopefully though the reinforcements from the French and others will be able to take a more active role to put an end to the atrocities that are occuring in there.

source

Cheering crowd greets French troops in Congo as gruesome killing continues

Canadian Press

Friday, June 06, 2003

CREDIT: (AP/Karel Prinsloo)

BUNIA, Congo (CP) - Hundreds of residents who survived savage tribal fighting last month in this northeastern Congolese town cheered the arrival Friday of French troops, the vanguard of an international force intended to stabilize the volatile Ituri region after more than 500 people were killed.

Shouting "liberated, liberated," the townspeople gathered outside the headquaters of the U.N. mission to Congo, or MONUC, as several dozen French forces pulled up in camouflage jeeps for a meeting with U.N. officials and the Hema tribal militia that now controls the town.

"For the next 10 days there will be six to seven flights a day bringing more French troops," said Nana Rosine Ngangoue, a MONUC spokeswoman. "This will lead to the deployment of half the French contingent in the multinational force."

Maj. Harry Chadwick, with the U.N., s peaking Thursday from the Congolese capital of Kinshasa, said he was shocked by what he found when he went to Bunia.

The dead included women and children, some decapitated, others with their hearts, livers and lungs missing. UN officials are investigating cannibalism claims.

"The reports are too widespread not to be true," Chadwick said.

"This war is like an iceberg," said the veteran of four overseas tours. "Ninety per cent of it's below the surface."

Ituri has been plagued by fighting and massacres for several years as rival Hema and Lendu tribal factions fight for control of the province's rich mineral deposits, vast timber forests and fertile land.

Many of the bodies Chadwick saw strewn on the streets of Bunia were half-eaten by dogs. But Chadwick said what he found most striking as he entered the town on May 13 was the age of the soldiers.

Families had been told they had to provide money, a cow or a son to the cause. Sons, said Chadwick, are the most dispensable.

"The first one I saw couldn't have been more than eight years old," said the Sarnia, Ont., native, a weekend soldier who works for Canada Customs when he's not deployed to places like Bosnia and Ethiopia.

Five British military officers also arrived with the French troops to study the situation on the ground and determine how Britain will contribute to the force, Ngangoue said.

Early Friday morning troops from special units of the French army, navy and air force streamed out of two Transal C-160s and a Hercules C-130 transport planes and took up defensive positions around the perimeter of Bunia airport that will serve as their operational base.

"By the end of the day, there will be several dozen of us here at the airport," said the officer who identified himself as the commander of the advanced party but who declined to reveal his name, rank or unit.

The 1,700-strong international force, code-named Artemis, is deploying under both United Nations and European Union mandates and will be authorized during its three-month mission to shoot to kill if necessary.

Col. Daniel Vollot, a French officer in command of the MONUC troops already in Bunia, and several French officers from the vanguard units toured the battered capital of Ituri province that had been a bustling trading center until rival Hema and Lendu tribal militia battled for control when troops from neighboring Uganda pulled out on May 7.

France will provide 1,000 troops and the force commander, Gen. Jean-Paul Thonier. The composition of the remainder of the force, which will not operate under U.N. command nor wear the hallmark blue helmets of U.N. peackeepers, has not yet been confirmed. But it is expected to include troops from Canada, South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria and Pakistan.

The international force will reinforce the 750 beleaguered MONUC troops from Uruguay whose mandate is to protect U.N. installations and personnel but not the local civilian population. They are only authorized to shoot in self defense.

The Rwandan-backed Hema and Ugandan-backed Lendu militia escalated after some 6,000 Ugandan troops pulled out of Ituri in accordance with a deal with the Congolese government intended to end the 4 1/2-year civil war in Africa's third-largest nation. The Hema Union of Congolese Patriots, or UPC, currently controls Bunia.

During the fighting for control of Bunia, U.N. troops and civilian staff were attacked by fighters using both firearms and poisoned arrows.

In August 1998, Rwanda and Uganda backed Congolese rebels attempting to oust then-President Laurent Kabila. Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia sent in troops to support Kabila. The foreign troops have all withdrawn, but rebel groups and tribal militia in eastern Congo are still supported by Uganda and Rwanda.

The French-led force is to remain in Bunia until September when it will be replaced by a contingent from Bangladesh operating under the U.N. mission to Congo, or MONUC.

MONUC was set up to monitor a 1999 cease-fire in Congo; it now has about 4,600 troops throughout the country, most of them unarmed logistical support troops.

In a report to the U.N. Security Council on June 2, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for an increase of up to 10,800 troops in the MONUC force.

[ 06-06-2003, 02:18 PM: Message edited by: Djinn Raffo ]

I wiated all day for someone to comment ont his...I think it deserves some discussion and comment...but I can't think of a thing to say about it.

[Djinn Raffo]

Originally posted by MagiK: I wiated all day for someone to comment ont his...I think it deserves some discussion and comment...but I can't think of a thing to say about it.

I know what you mean MagiK. Hopefully we can all offer a hope, a prayer, or a good vibe to these troops who will be fighting the good fight.

[Dreamer128]

It is horrible what people can do to each other. Lets hope their mission is a successful one.

[ 06-08-2003, 11:35 AM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]