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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Fresh massacre in DR Congo |
| 2003-06-01 |
| Fresh reports have emerged about mass killings in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo where bitter ethnic conflict broke out after Ugandan troops withdrew last month. A Ugandan military commander Brigadier Kale Kaihura has told the BBC that fighters from the majority Lendu community have slaughtered at least 100 people in a village of Kyomna populated by Hema people. Hema leader Bawunde Kisangani told the French news agency AFP that he visited the village and counted 253 dead bodies, including about 20 babies. He said the attackers used machetes and rifles to kill their victims. "They stormed a hospital and killed people they found there." The attackers included fighters of another rebel group, the Congolese Rally for Democracy-Liberation Movement, as well as Kinshasa government troops, he said. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #4 You need the will and the credibility to use the weapons. No guarantees of victory, but deterrence is not about victory as it is about being left alone, which is what the Hema really wanted. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-06-02 06:02:04 |
| #3 Not exactly true. Actually, the weapons in Iraq were mainly in the hands of the Saddamite thugs, and they weren't just handguns. Also, most Arab countries are tribal societies withsout a sense fo nationhood. As they say, "My cousin and I against the world, and my brother and I against my cousin." |
| Posted by: Anonymous Troll 2003-06-01 22:05:12 |
| #2 Iraq was filled with weapons, even during the Saddam Hussein era. He never cared to take them away from the population. They didn't do any good to the population. Second Amendment supporters overestimate the usefulness of handguns in defending against massacres and other violations of human rights.. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2003-06-01 21:52:34 |
| #1 Sounds like the Hema could have used a Second Amendment of their own. Some of them would still have died, but so would many of their attackers. Thugs don't like it when their victims fight back. I'd say "Handgun Control, take note," but I'm sure they know the logical end result of their campaign if they should prevail (of course, they will have armed guards, since they're more important than we peasants). We probably won't have to worry too much about machetes.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2003-06-01 21:18:24 |