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| Africa: Subsaharan |
| UN troops killed in Congo ambush |
| 2005-02-25 |
| Several United Nations peacekeepers have been killed during an armed ambush in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the country's UN mission. The attack happened on Friday morning in the north-eastern Ituri region, where 4,800 peacekeepers are deployed. A UN spokesman said the troops were ambushed by "unidentified armed elements" while they were on patrol. He said there were no further details on the exact number or nationality of the victims. However, a UN source quoted by Reuters news agency said at least eight had been killed. The UN force in Ituri includes peacekeepers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco and Nepal. Violence between rival militias resumed in the mineral-rich province in December, and aid workers say tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the fighting - many fleeing to neighbouring Uganda. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #11 LH: didnt they already have that war of partition, which killed several million without actually resolving the situation? The Congolese also just got started - the war of Chinese unification after the demise of the Qing dynasty (1911) was resolved in 1949, almost four decades later. The Austro-Hungarian empire lasted hundreds of years before it finally fell apart - in the interval of which many rebellions and wars of secession were fought. There is nothing particularly long about the Congo conflict in the context of other wars of partition. What I am saying is that the Congo needs to be left alone to resolve its differences in the traditional way - by force of arms. Any outside intervention merely delays the final reckoning. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-02-25 2:11:43 PM |
| #10 LH: didnt they already have that war of partition, which killed several million without actually resolving the situation? Several million? That's probably just a guess from NGO's looking for handouts. The Chinese Civil War in the 1940's did not kill several million, and they were operating with a manpower base of hundreds of millions. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-02-25 2:07:15 PM |
| #9 didnt they already have that war of partition, which killed several million without actually resolving the situation? That question can be applied to 90% of the countries in Africa. |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-02-25 12:42:10 PM |
| #8 didnt they already have that war of partition, which killed several million without actually resolving the situation? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-02-25 11:18:37 AM |
| #7 The UN force in Ituri includes peacekeepers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco and Nepal. lets see - of that bunch, the Moroccans are probably the best - one of the better armies in the arab/muslim world and then the Nepalis (I presume Nepals own army is NOT trained to Gurka standards, but still) Bangladeshis are probably the bottom of the barrel, I would guess. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-02-25 11:17:39 AM |
| #6 Run! Back to your chocolate huts! |
| Posted by: Mark E. 2005-02-25 10:50:21 AM |
| #5 This is what happens when the UN branches out into warfighting. No, this is what happens when the UN doesn't retreat fast enough. More French assistance required. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-02-25 10:37:02 AM |
| #4 TomAnon: Could also be some pissed off family trying to get back the virtue of the daughter as well...... There are a lot of ethnic groups in the Congo as different as the French, the British and the Germans. They were all lumped together into a single country when Belgium granted its former possession independence, despite the fact that they were separate kingdoms before Belgium conquered them all. The local tradition of winner-takes-all governance has led to many of the ethnic groups that did not get to rule carrying out armed revolts against the government. The Congo really ought to be a dozen or so countries. Inserting UN troops into the country is really getting in the way of a war of partition that would resolve some of territorial issues in a definitive manner. It's a lot like trying to hold the Austro-Hungarian empire together. Some things aren't meant to be. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-02-25 10:22:11 AM |
| #3 UN peacekeepers killed - time for an exit strategy. |
| Posted by: Hank 2005-02-25 9:54:26 AM |
| #2 Could also be some pissed off family trying to get back the virtue of the daughter as well...... |
| Posted by: TomAnon 2005-02-25 9:48:49 AM |
| #1 This is what happens when the UN branches out into warfighting. Most of the UN's troops are no better-trained than their opposition. If they get sucked into some local conflict with any significant indigenous support, we're looking at Chechnya, only worse. Even if better-trained European troops were deployed, it would depend on how determined and organized the local opposition is. If it is anything like Iraq, I just can't see any UN force being able to stay deployed, in the face of opposition from the contributing countries that are suffering personnel losses. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-02-25 9:47:22 AM |