The UN force due to take over peacekeeping duties in the Democratic Republic of Congo's troubled northeast on September 1 will be made up of 4,700 troops, one of the new force's commanders said Sunday.
The current French-led EU force stationed in the regional capital of Bunia was deployed in June as an interim measure while the UN force prepared itself.
"There will be 4,700 men, first of all the Uruguayan battalion, the Bangladeshi contingent with their air components, the Pakistani contingent and a Nepalese contingent," said General Jan Isberg, the force's second in command.
The four battalions will have a broader mandate authorizing them to open fire to complete their mission, compared to the previous force's authorization only to fire in self defense.
Ethnic violence between the majority Lendus and the minority Hemas tribe in the region has claimed the lives of 50,000 people since 1999 and displaced half a million others.
The first Pakistani troops will arrive on Saturday, while no date has yet been fixed for the arrival of the Nepalese.
"There is a political process going on between Nepal and the UN in New York. They will arrive after the Pakistanis," said Isberg, adding that the Nepalese would be operative sometime in September.
Bangladeshi and Uruguayan battalions totalling some 2,000 troops are already in Bunia.
The new force, known as MONUC 2, will have more firepower, including Indian attack helicopters. In contrast to the previous French-led force which brought a relative calm to the streets of Bunia, the UN force is authorised and expected to pacify the entire region.
"Operations outside Bunia ... are very much depending on what will happen here [in Bunia]. We are determined not to let things get out of our hands. We believe there will be disturbances but we are very much equipped and we have the manpower to deal with them," said Isberg.
While Isberg would not say exactly when troops would head into the area around Bunia, he said it was unlikely before all Pakistani troops had arrived.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was