Rival tribesmen battled with guns and machetes in east Congo outside UN offices jammed with more than 10,000 terrorized civilians. The UN scrambled to assemble an international force to end the bloodshed.
The fighting in Bunia killed at least 10 people on Wednesday -- including women and children. Most victims were hit by mortar fire as they crowded around the UN compound in Bunia.
As the violence raged, Britain confirmed it was considering a UN request to send troops, while France said it had been asked to send a battalion of up to 1,000 troops. Uganda said it was willing to send its troops back to Congo as UN peacekeepers, if asked.
A Western diplomat at the UN said the French had approached other African countries, India and Pakistan about participating.
Rival Hema and Lendu fighters have battled in Bunia for a week, leaving scores dead as they vied for dominance in the power vacuum left by the May 7 withdrawal of the last of 6,000 troops from neighboring Uganda.
Rotting bodies lay in the streets and near homes. Two Red Cross workers were killed on Tuesday as they collected some of the corpses, officials of a local rights group, Justice Plus, said.
As Congo appealed for a massive international deployment, an overwhelmed 625-man Uruguayan UN contingent shot automatic rifles into the air as fighting crept nearer the UN-held airport and base.
Wednesday's fighting saw mortar rounds slam within 15m of the compound, Tome said.
"I saw only civilians, poor women killed with their children," said Michel Kassa, a UN coordinator of humanitarian affairs.
Uganda's pullout came as part of peace deals meant to end the five-year, six-nation war in Congo, Africa's third-largest nation. Relief groups estimate the war killed as many as 3 million people, most of them civilians.
In Kinshasa, Congo's capital, government spokesman Kikaya Bin Karubi appealed to the UN to send an intervention force -- rather than the stretched-thin observation force now in place.
Uganda and Rwanda and their rebel allies held eastern Congo during the war. The two countries each accuse the other of backing rival sides in the Ituri province conflicts.
Bloody turf battles between Lendu and Hema fighters have made the lawless province a flashpoint. A series of such skirmishes in April killed more than 1,000 civilians.
Shamans in Peru on Monday gathered for an annual New Year’s ritual where they made predictions for the year to come, including illness for US President Donald Trump and the downfall of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “The United States should prepare itself because Donald Trump will fall seriously ill,” Juan de Dios Garcia proclaimed as he gathered with other shamans on a beach in southern Lima, dressed in traditional Andean ponchos and headdresses, and sprinkling flowers on the sand. The shamans carried large posters of world leaders, over which they crossed swords and burned incense, some of which they stomped on. In this
‘NO COUNTRY BUMPKIN’: The judge rejected arguments that former prime minister Najib Razak was an unwitting victim, saying Najib took steps to protect his position Imprisoned former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was yesterday convicted, following a corruption trial tied to multibillion-dollar looting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund. The nation’s high court found Najib, 72, guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering related to more than US$700 million channeled into his personal bank accounts from the 1MDB fund. Najib denied any wrongdoing, and maintained the funds were a political donation from Saudi Arabia and that he had been misled by rogue financiers led by businessman Low Taek Jho. Low, thought to be the scandal’s mastermind, remains
Near the entrance to the Panama Canal, a monument to China’s contributions to the interoceanic waterway was torn down on Saturday night by order of local authorities. The move comes as US President Donald Trump has made threats in the past few months to retake control of the canal, claiming Beijing has too much influence in its operations. In a surprising move that has been criticized by leaders in Panama and China, the mayor’s office of the locality of Arraijan ordered the demolition of the monument built in 2004 to symbolize friendship between the countries. The mayor’s office said in
FIGHTING CONTINUES: Thai military dropped 40 bombs on border areas, Cambodia said, while Bangkok said Phnom Penh launched heavy attacks and damaged homes Cambodia yesterday accused Thailand of intensifying its bombardment of disputed border areas, even as officials from the two countries attend a multi-day meeting aimed at negotiating an end to deadly clashes. The neighbors’ long-standing border conflict reignited this month, shattering an earlier truce and killing more than 40 people, according to official counts. About 1 million people have also been displaced. Cambodian and Thai officials were in their third day of talks at a border checkpoint, with ministers of defense from the two countries scheduled to meet today. However, the Cambodian Ministry of National Defense said Thailand’s military carried out a heavy
RSS