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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
DRC: MONUC calls on Ituri belligerents to withdraw from Bunia
KINSHASA, 7 May 2003 (IRIN) - The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known as MONUC, on Wednesday called on all armed groups fighting in the northeastern district of Ituri to cease hostilities and return to their bases.
"The best way to guarantee peace in this region is to keep armed groups outside the city of Bunia and quarter them at their bases as had been agreed under the Ituri Pacification Commission (IPC)," Hamadoun Toure, the MONUC spokesman, said at a news conference in the DRC capital, Kinshasa.
He said that five civilians were killed on Monday during fighting that erupted at a market place in Bunia. "Five other people were killed on Saturday during fighting between ethnic militias," he added.
Meanwhile, the last unit of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) left Bunia on Tuesday, the Ugandan government-owned daily, The New Vision, reported.
"It is all over for us," Major Shaban Bantariza, the UPDP spokesman, was quoted as saying. "Other soldiers are walking to Aru and Mahagi. In two or three days, all our soldiers will be back home."
Toure confirmed that Ugandan troops had left Bunia, the principal city of Ituri, and were continuing to leave other locations inside the DRC.
Meanwhile, local sources reported that ethnic Lendu-Ngiti militias, rivals of the ethnic Hema militias, were patrolling the town.
"We do not know why they are patrolling even as MONUC has reinforced its presence in Ituri, and continue to do so, and as the Congolese National Police are also present in the region," Toure said.
By Wednesday, MONUC had a force strength of 411 men in Ituri while the national police had about 700 people in place. "By the end of this week, the UN force should be about 600 to 650 soldiers," Toure said.
News agencies reported that "thousands" of ethnic Hemas were fleeing Ituri, seeking refuge in neighbouring Uganda. Although specific figures were not available, news agencies reported that more than 40 people had died in a cholera outbreak in western Uganda, which has been exacerbated by the influx of refugees from the DRC.
"We have recorded 601 cases of cholera, with 44 deaths, in the district between 5 January and 20 April," Erasto Gubaare, the Bundibugyo district commissioner, told AFP.
The New Vision reported that heavy rains have made transporting emergency medical supplies to the area virtually impossible.
On Tuesday, UN Security Council members urged all Congolese parties and all states in the region to support the process initiated by the IPC.
For their part, members of the organs set up by the IPC issued a statement in Bunia on Monday in which they "deplored and condemned acts of hostility and violence" and urged the armed groups to respect the agreement on cessation of hostilities, signed on 18 March 2003. They further urged "those who are leaving Bunia town to immediately return to their homes since MONUC and the Congolese National Police are ready to provide them with security".
Also on Tuesday, the UN Security Council condemned recent violence in the Kivu provinces of eastern DRC, and "noted the need to address these urgent issues during the upcoming Security Council mission to the region".
For his part, Toure said that MONUC deplored continued fighting between the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) rebel movement and Mayi-Mayi militias in Bukavu, Uvira, Mbingi and other locations in eastern DRC.
Themes: (IRIN) Conflict
[ENDS]
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