UN Suspends Support To DR Congo Army
The
United Nations is to suspend operational support for Congolese army units it
believes have killed more than sixty civilians this year.
The U.N. peacekeeping chief, Alain Le Roy said information shows the civilians
were clearly targeted in attacks by certain units of the army.
Alain Le Roy was speaking on UN-sponsored Radio, Okapi on the killings of at
least sixty two civilians in eastern Congo, between May and September, where the
army units were fighting Rwandan rebels.
Meanwhile, the UN says lack of much needed aircraft that member states were
meant to donate has hampered the ability of a Congo peacekeeping force to
protect civilians.
The peacekeeping chief, Alain Le Roy said the lack of military hardware had left
peacekeepers disappointed.
The Security Council had, last December voted to send three thousand extra
soldiers and additional air assets to Democratic Republic of Congo, where
peacekeepers are backing army efforts to stamp out Rwandan rebels seen as a root
cause of a decade of conflict.
After repeated delays, troop reinforcements began arriving last month, but there
has been little progress toward securing helicopters and a cargo plane.
REUTERS/BBC/Yinka
