U.N. stops support for Congo troops

KINSHASA, Congo (Agence France-Presse) | The United Nations has withdrawn its support for Congolese army units operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a top U.N. official announced Monday, accusing its soldiers of killing 62 civilians.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said “civilians have been clearly targeted in attacks by certain elements of the FARDC [the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo].”

“We have decided that MONUC [the U.N. peacekeeping mission] will immediately suspend its logistical and operational support to the army units implicated in these killings,” Mr. Le Roy told U.N.-sponsored Radio Okapi.

He said at least 62 civilians, including a large number of women and children, were slaughtered between May and September of this year in Nord-Kivu province, during the U.N.-backed operation to flush out Rwandan Hutu FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) rebels.

The United Nations would await the results of a joint inquiry into the killings being carried out with the Congolese army, before contemplating further action, Mr. Le Roy said.

The U.S. special adviser on the Great Lakes region Howard Wolpe said the operation, known as Kimia II, had led to “unacceptable” killings, rape and displacement of civilians.

“Some security objectives have been reached, but there are indications of thousands and thousands of civilians being killed or raped or displaced. This is unacceptable,” Mr. Wolpe told journalists in Johannesburg.

For months, U.N. peacekeepers have been providing significant backing for Kimia II, including tactical, transport and aviation support, as well as food, fuel and medical care, at an estimated cost of more than $6 million.

Human Rights Watch on Monday said Congo’s army had killed 500 civilians since March.

Congo has been destabilized by more than a decade of civil war and rebellions that followed the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda.