NEWS: UN Peacekeepers Accused of Gunning Down Innocent Civilians

CONGO - A Human Rights activist group has accused United Nations peacekeepers of knowingly gunning down innocent civilians during a March 1st raid on a marketplace in Congo. Human rights group Justice Plus released a report listing the names of alleged civilian victims killed in the raid which was staged on a busy market day. The U.N. responded saying that peacekeepers only returned fire after coming under attack, and that women and children were amongst those who fired weapons.



Stories coming out of the Congo continue to shock the world. Peacekeepers recovered the mutilated bodies of nine of their comrades after a militia attack in late February.

UN Peacekeepers Killed In The Congo (from ATSNN) - 2005/2/26
The UN reports that 9 of its Peacekeepers were killed in the DRC today They were Bangladeshis and were killed by militias. This is apparently the fourth most deadly attack on UN troops in Africa, and the biggest day of UN troop casualties in africa occured in the Congo.

U.N. sources said blue-helmeted soldiers had recovered the bodies of their comrades after two U.N. patrols were fired upon from all sides in a well-organized ambush in the lawless Ituri district of the former Zaire.

The United Nations has a 4,800-strong force in Ituri made up of four contingents from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco and Nepal. The total U.N. force in Congo numbers 16,000, making it the world body's biggest peacekeeping operation.

Ituri is one of Congo's worst trouble spots, where ethnic militias have killed 50,000 civilians since 1999 -- the year the current U.N. force in the country, known by its French acronym MONUC, was established.

The patrols were attacked in Ndoki, 19 miles east of Ituri's main city of Bunia and an area controlled by a predominantly ethnic Lendu militia known as FNI.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

U.N. peacekeepers have reported barbaric acts commited by tribal militias, including cannibalism.



The U.N. has faced accusations of ineffectiveness in the war-torn region and has obviously stepped up efforts - and aggressiveness - in an attempt to rectify the situation. Charged with keeping the peace whilst protecting innocent civilians, one cannot begin to imagine the psychological pressure that officers and troops must face in such conditions.

"Civilians are the true casualties of war." I find it surprising that the peacekeepers have managed to maintain such a record of low civilian casualties throughout their operational history, although it may well explain their notorious ineffectiveness. Traditionally seen as 'chaperones to conflict', perhaps the recent raids in the Congo herald the "Blue Helmets" evolution from "peace keepers", to peace enforcers.

The Justice Plus website - www.justiceplus.org

Related News Links:
news.corporate.findlaw.com
www.guardian.co.uk
cnnstudentnews.cnn.com
www.thestar.co.za

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
UN Peacekeepers Killed In The Congo (from ATSNN)
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[edit on 2005/4/15 by wecomeinpeace]

-it's troops returned fire only once attacked-
Doesn't read right

I voted anyway - good story

Peacekeepers must have a tough job. No matter what they do their lives are at risk.

Those blue helmets can't be very effective as camouflage either.

Kind of like super umpires- all calls are bad calls.

Someone gets benched and the crowd lunges from the bleachers.

Blue helmets- surprised they don't put bright red targets on their backs.

Impossible

Based on what I've been reading for oh so many years, only U.S. soldiers gun down innocent civilians.

So obviously, the story is a lie.