Indians, Pakistanis Partners in U.N. Peacekeeping Effort in Congo
06 June 2006
Ground forces disarmed rebels, and are helping to prepare for elections
By Jim Fisher-Thompson, Washington File Correspondent
Washington File Staff Writer
Bunia, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo -- Bloodshed and suffering are ending in this war-torn section of eastern Congo due in large part to cooperation between two traditional rivals -- India and Pakistan -- whose troops are now risking their lives to protect Congolese as part of the U.N. peacekeeping force called MONUC.
Being a Pakistani, "I could never image such cooperation between my countrymen and Indians as I've seen here," MONUC public information officer Mohammad Abdul Wahab told the Washington File June 5.
Abdul Wahab discussed the ongoing security situation in Ituri district along with MONUC chief information officer Jennifer Bakody. Bunia, the administrative center for Ituri district, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Orientale Province, also oversees sub-offices in the towns of Aru, Kasenyi and Mahagi.
Ituri, like much of eastern Congo, has been under constant turmoil since 1998, when a regional conflict with the DRC and its neighbors in the Great Lakes region set the stage for roving bands of rebels and militias to rape and pillage the countryside. As many as 3.5 million people may have died in this "Forgotten War," as it is called by some specialists in African affairs.
MONUC came on the stage after various peace accords were signed from 1999 to 2002 that called upon the United Nations to reinstitute security in the east while helping the DRC prepare for elections.
According to a U.N. document, "MONUC's multinational character (representing more than 100 member states) is a visible indication of the international community's interest in resolving the DRC crisis and accompanying the Congolese people on their historic transition to elections with stability."
Since it began active operations in Ituri in September 2003, MONUC ground forces have disarmed 17,000 rebels in the district while helping to build roads and schools and preparing the local populace for national elections scheduled for July 30.
Part of the MONUC force consists of a battalion of Pakistani troops and an aviation unit of the Indian Air Force with two ground attack helicopters -- their own machines but repainted in U.N. white.
On a number of occasions, the Indians have been called in to support Pakistani troops, as well as Nepalese, Moroccan and Bangladesh infantry units in Ituri who have come under fire.
In an operation against rebels that began May 15, a unit of Nepalese soldiers was ambushed on May 28, with one killed, three wounded and seven taken captive who have still not been released. The wounded were evacuated by elements of the air operation in Ituri that includes the Indian aviation unit.
Other soldiers represented in the MONUC/Ituri force come from Morocco, Indonesia, South Africa and Uruguay.
"That's the beauty of the U.N.," said MONUC's Abdul Wahab, "that it brings different peoples together for a common cause. Only the U.N. would provide a platform for 50-60 nationalities [in the MONUC] to interact this way to end suffering and help people build a new future."
For information on U.S. policy in the region, see Africa.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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