Congo: UN troops in crossfire

News24 ^ | 11/09/03 | SA

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Congo: UN troops in crossfire 09/11/2003 22:22 - (SA)

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Kigali - UN peacekeepers shot dead a senior commander of a Congolese tribal faction and wounded another after their patrol came under fire in volatile north-eastern Congo.

Fighters of the Party for Unity and Safeguard of the Integrity of Congo, fired at UN troops patrolling the group's stronghold in the volatile Ituri province late on Saturday, said Leocadio Salmeron, spokesperson of the UN mission in Congo.

No UN troops were hurt, but a senior commander of the faction, which is made up of members of the Hema tribe, was killed during the clashes, Salmeron said by telephone from Bunia, the provincial capital.

Chief Kisembo Bitamara, spokesperson of the tribal faction, identified the dead man as brigade commander Claude Bahemuka.

Bitamara said the peacekeepers raided a military camp used by his group just hours after storming another camp and confiscating weapons.

"They came with helicopter gunships hovering in the air and troops in armoured personnel carriers. They surrounded the camp, rounded up our troops and ordered them to surrender their weapons," Bitamara said by telephone.

"Our troops were caught by surprise. Some tried to flee and UN troops fired their weapons," Bitamara said. "They shot dead our brigade commander."

On Saturday, UN troops also detained a senior member of a separate Hema tribal faction and 15 other men on two separate raids in Bunia. An unidentified gunman also shot at UN forces in Bunia.

No UN troops were wounded in the shooting which came three days after unidentified gunmen attacked the UN headquarters in Bunia, wounding at least one Bangladeshi soldier who was shot in the leg, said Leocadio Salmeron.