UN destroys militia camps
2004-12-29 11:30
Ituri - United Nations peacekeepers destroyed three camps being used by an armed militia in the Ituri region of eastern Congo, UN officials said on Tuesday.
The peacekeepers razed huts in the camps of the Nationalist Integrationist Front militia, known by its French acronym FNI, at Amee, Zavi and Nyamokaka, but made no arrests, the UN mission in Congo reported.
The UN mission said locals, who often are victims of harassment and extortion by the FNI, welcomed the action.
The three camps were near Mona, more than 100km north of the main town in the region, Bunia.
A UN statement said this was the third operation by UN peacekeepers to dismantle militia camps in Ituri this month.
The first was on December 5 in Ndrele and on December 9, was in Mahagi.
Ituri province has been one of the hotspots in Congo's east, despite peace accords that ended major combat in the five-year, six-nation war here.
Militia fighting over the past year in Ituri has killed more than 50 000 people and uprooted a half-million others.
- SAPA