UN chopper fires on DRC town
2004-05-28 19:17
Kigali - A UN helicopter opened fire on Friday on dissident soldiers in the troubled eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) town of Bukavu and the UN mission there said it had ordered the soldiers to return to barracks by Saturday morning or face arrest.
The soldiers have been fighting regular troops since Wednesday in Bukavu, where at least 14 people are reported to have died in the clashes.
"The helicopter opened fire on a position held by Colonel (Jules) Mutebusi, where his men were threatening civilians," Sebastian Lapierre, a spokesperson for Monuc, the UN military mission in DRC, told AFP by phone from Bukavu.
He did not give any details of possible casualties from the incident or say exactly where in Bukavu it took place.
Mutebusi, a former commander of a rebel group that joined the DRC transitional government last year, was suspended from the new national army last month after earlier violence.
"General Jan Isberg, who commands Monuc's brigade in the (eastern) Kivu provinces, has just given an ultimatum to Mutebusi for him and his men to return to their headquarters with their weapons before 06:00 on Saturday," added Lapierre.
He said anyone who did not comply "would be immediately arrested by Monuc, by force if necessary."