UN soldier dies in DRC
2005-05-13 09:35
Kinshasa - A Bangladeshi soldier serving with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) died on Thursday from a wound he received earlier in the day in an ambush, the UN mission (Monuc) said.
Six other peacekeepers were injured in the attack in the eastern Ituri region of the DRC, it said.
"A Bangladeshi blue helmet died from his wounds," said Monuc spokesperson Kemal Saiki.
The soldier, who was shot in the stomach, was one of 40 Bangladeshi peacekeeping troops travelling in a convoy of armoured personnel carriers and jeeps was ambushed by "armed elements" 50 kilometres southeast of Bunia, in a district known as Geti.
Three were hit by gunfire, and four more received slight injuries when their jeep overturned.
A UN attack helicopter was called in and opened fire but there were no details as to rebel casualties.
The UN did not say whether the soldier died in Bunia or while being transferred to a South African hospital.
In all 17 peacekeepers have died since Monuc was set up in 1999. The worst incident involved the killing of nine Bangladeshi soldiers in February this year in the same area.
Seven arrested after clash
In a separate incident on Thursday, Pakistani UN peacekeepers captured seven militiamen belonging to the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) north of Bunia following a clash.
Until a few weeks ago Geti was still under the control of the Patriotic Resistance Front of Ituri (FRPI), whose leader Germain Katanga was imprisoned in Kinshasa in March.
The FRPI were thought to be allied to the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI), which is allegedly implicated in the killing of nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers in an incident that shocked the UN in February.
UN sweeps, backed with air power, and aimed at arresting and disarming militiamen allied to the FRPI have taken place with increasing frequency since the incident, which led to a tough armed response.
Thousands of militia dead, displaced
Inter-ethnic clashes in the country's volatile Ituri region near the Ugandan border have claimed at least 60 000 lives and have displaced more than 500 000 people since 1999.
Since the Monuc launched a programme to rid the region of militia groups in September 2004, more than 9 000 have been disarmed, including more than 3 000 child soldiers.
The UN hopes to complete the disarmament of militias in Ituri by the end of June and estimates there are now less than 3 000 active militia remaining in the region.
More than 16 000 UN peacekeepers are helping the vast central African nation, formerly known as Zaire, prepare this year for the first democratic elections since independence from Belgium in 1960.