Posted on 04/02/2005 11:34:16 PM PST by seacapn
KINSHASA (Reuters) - United Nations troops killed up to 38 militia fighters during a raid by hundreds of peacekeepers backed by helicopter gunships in the Ituri district of eastern Congo on Saturday, a U.N. military source said.
"It was serious fighting and 38 militiamen were killed," the source told Reuters. The clash came a day after a U.N. deadline expired for voluntary disarmament by militias, who have killed hundreds of civilians in the mineral-rich region.
Earlier, the U.N. mission said South African, Bangladeshi and Pakistani peacekeepers exchanged fire with gunmen as they searched two militia camps 40 km (25 miles) southwest of Bunia, capital of Ituri.
The United Nations now has 16,700 soldiers in Congo, making it the largest peacekeeping mission in the world.
(Excerpt) Read more at swissinfo.org ...
What, were the militiamen trying to keep their small children from being used as sex toys by the fearless "peacekeepers"?
Somehow I think of the militiamen as the good guys. Where am I going wrong?
Eastern Congo is an absolute hellhole. The militiamen basically roam around from village to village conscripting kids into their army, doping them up with cocaine and PCP and forcing them to murder thier own relatives so they can never go back. The militia in question here also practices cannibalism against the pygmy tribes who live in the forest nearby. The money comes from plunder and various sorts of illegal mining, and the weapons come from Chinese/Russian/Ukrainian/South African arms dealers.
Sometimes the UN hits the mark, and I think this is one of those times.
Thanks for the report. From your description, the "militiamen" sound absolutely horrible. Of course, the UN peacekeepers indulging in rape and pedophilia (as they have in the Congo and several other places) hardly makes them the "good guys" - just less abominable than the "militiamen", more aptly described as gangs of armed thugs.
I think just about every organized armed group in that region is absolutely horrible. If Hell bubbled up on earth, I bet it would look something like a marriage of Congo and Somalia.
Unfortunately, they're not even the first group in Africa to do those things. It's been done before in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and before that in the Central African Republic - where France has re-installed more than one dictator.
That's something UN supporters need to understand. You can't send a defensive force to go stop a bunch of offensive militias. That just leads to troops getting trapped in thier garrisons and using the locals like toys. Put 'em out in the field, where they might actually get something done.
How many did they rape on the way.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.