• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: UN force frees all but three UPC partisans

KINSHASA, 18 September 2003 (IRIN) - UN troops in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have freed all but three partisans of the rebel Union des patriots congolais (UPC) arrested in the town of Bunia earlier this week, the commander of UN forces, Gen Mountaga Diallo, told reporters.

He said on Wednesday in Kinshasa, the nation's capital, that the three senior UPC leaders of the Hema militia group, rivals to the Lendu, had lived on a plot where UN troops had unearthed "a large quantity of firearms". The UPC men are under investigation.

Some 100 UPC supporters were arrested after two days of violent demonstrations that began on Monday in Bunia, the main town in the troubled district of Ituri. The protesters where objecting to the UN troops' confiscation of weapons from a UPC compound and home of the movement's leader, Thomas Lubanga.

UN troops are conducting searches and seizures to clean the town of firearms. They recently unearthed 14 AK-47 assault rifles, six claymore antipersonnel mines, a rocket propelled grenade launcher with nine projectiles and other ammunition of varying calibres.

Diallo said that all rebel factions had been told it was illegal to carry firearms in Bunia. "There will no longer be any body guards," he said, "if anyone needs them we will provide them."

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

The material contained on this Web site comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post any item on this site, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All graphics and Images on this site may not be re-produced without the express permission of the original owner. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003