UN peacekeepers sent to DRC
2008-06-06 22:20
Goma - UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been sent to secure a refugee camp in the east of the country where an attack blamed on Rwandan Hutus left nine dead, a UN spokesperson said.
The mobile base next to the Kinyandoni camp was set up on Thursday and will eventually have about 50 peacekeepers, said Sylvie van den Wildenberg, a spokesperson for the UN mission to DR Congo (MONUC) in Nord Kivu province.
The peacekeepers "are going to continue patrolling the zone, to protect the area and to prevent all new attempts at an attack," she told AFP.
Rwandan Hutu fighters opened fire on refugees at the camp on Wednesday, killing nine people, according to the UN Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It blamed the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) for the attack.
The territory's administrator Dominique Bofondo said the authorities had decided to send troops and police to secure the Kinyandoni camp which is in the Rutshuru region, about 70km north of the regional capital Goma.
The UN spokesperson said a ninth body from the attack was found on Friday and that more could still be retrieved.
Aid groups suspended their operations in the zone on Thursday because of the attack.