UN steps in to halt violence in Congo
The council gave the peacekeepers a mandate to use deadly force to try to stop massacres in the Ituri region, a remote area ravaged by tribal killings and cannibalism.
The force mandate is to protect civilians and secure the airport near the town of Bunia until September 1, by which time UN reinforcements should have arrived.
The force, likely to be about 2,000 strong, will not wear the usual blue helmets of the UN and is expected to take firm measures to stop the violence.
There are 700 UN troops already in Bunia but they have no mandate and no capability to do anything other than batten down inside their compound while the killing goes on outside.
The UN decision, which was supported by the US, is a further step towards re-uniting the Security Council after the bitter divisions over the war in Iraq.
The crisis began three weeks ago when Uganda withdrew its 6,000 troops from Bunia as part of a UN-brokered peace accord, leaving rival Lendu and Hema tribal militias to fight for control of the town in a series of bloody battles.
The civil war in the mineral-rich region, exacerbated by intervention from neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, has left an estimated 50,000 dead, including up to 400 in the past three weeks. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Anton La Guardiain London
