Child soldiers 'can be shot'
2006-06-14 22:45
Berlin - Soldiers taking part in an upcoming European Union peacekeeping mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo will be authorised to shoot child soldiers where their own lives are threatened, said the German commander on Wednesday.
Lieutenant-General Karlheinz Viereck, commander of the 2 000-strong EU force, said the mission's rules of engagement allowed for EU soldiers to shoot in self-defence if they found themselves confronted by "a child soldier with a raised weapon".
He also said the German soldiers who would join the mission already had undergone training for such cases.
The EU force is to deploy in support of a larger United Nations peacekeeping mission that is trying to ensure security during Congo's elections next month.
EU troops as a back-up
The EU troops will deploy just ahead of a first round of voting on July 30 and pull out by November 30, when the results of the final round of Congo's presidential and legislative elections are expected.
EU foreign ministers authorised the mission on Monday.
It will support an existing UN peacekeeping force of 17 000, which has been patrolling an often-uneasy peace deal between factions who fought a devastating 1998-2002 war for control of the vast, mineral-rich nation.
- AP