The UN shoots back in the Congo (a nice start)
■"U.N. Troops in Congo Kill 50 Militiamen in Gun Battle," by Associated Press, New York Times, 3 March 2005, pulled off web.
Here are the opening paras:
United Nations troops killed at least 50 militiamen in a stepped-up campaign to clear northeastern Congo of rogue gunmen who have preyed on residents and are suspected in the recent slaying of nine peacekeepers, United Nations officials said Wednesday.Responding to gunfire, the peacekeepers, backed by an attack helicopter, killed more people than in any other operation during their six-year mission in Congo.
The gun battle took place on Tuesday between 242 Pakistani peacekeepers and militia fighters. It broke out at a heavily fortified militia camp near the village of Loga, 20 miles north of Bunia, the capital of the lawless Ituri region, said Col. Dominique Demange, spokesman for the United Nations forces in Congo.
"While on operation we were fired upon, so we immediately responded," he said. He said 50 to 60 militia members had been confirmed dead.
You have to give it to the Pakistanis. They do deliver regularly on peacekeeping.
This is a good sign, but I suspect it goes nowhere. The UN can justify shooting back when their guys get killed, but the real step up is killing to prevent deaths of locals. 50k dead since 1999 (since the major war periods of the 1990s where roughly 3 million are believed to have been killed) and half a million forced out of their homes. Now the UN is talking about seriously pursuing these militias. Can it? Probably not, but at least it shows that the UN realizes how impotent it has looked for years in Africa.