DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Government and UN troops bring back calm to Mbandaka after a surprise rebel attack

Record ID: 375297

  • Title: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Government and UN troops bring back calm to Mbandaka after a surprise rebel attack
  • Date: 14th April 2010
  • Summary: MBANDAKA AIRPORT, DR CONGO(APRIL 5, 2009) (SHOT BY SOLDIERS - REUTERS) DEAD SOLDIER BLOOD AND BULLETS ON FLOOR DEAD BODY OF UN SOUTH AFRICAN PILOT DRC MILITARY AND POLICE AT AIRPORT
  • Embargoed: 29th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVAB0T9XC1W21LLTJL4R4WO6T7DP
  • Story Text: Life in Mbandaka, provincial capital and an opposition stronghold in Democratic Republic of Congo, began to return to normal following a surprise rebel attack in which insurgents overran the town during the Easter weekend, killing more than 30.
    Congolese government forces backed by U.N. troops recaptured a provincial airport from rebels on Monday ( April 12) after heavy fighting in which three U.N. workers and several soldiers and police officers were killed, officials said.
    Sunday's (April 11) surprise attack on Mbandaka, capital of northern Equateur province, was part of a spreading insurgency that began over fishing rights and illustrated the central African nation's continued dependence on peacekeepers who are expected to start withdrawing in June.
    Three U.N. personnel, including a Ghanaian peacekeeper and a South African pilot, were killed in the fighting, as well as four government soldiers, two police officers and nine rebels, according to a statement issued by the prime minister's office.
    Enyele rebels, who are from the remote north and are not linked to higher-profile rebel conflicts in the east, attacked the town on Sunday as people attended Easter mass in church and seized the airport where the world's largest U.N. mission has aircraft stationed.
    The rebels, who mounted a series of ambushes around the airport, fled into the surrounding forest and the army pursued them. Peacekeepers from the U.N. mission, known as MONUC, took part in the counter-attack, he said.
    Congo's government accused United Nations peacekeepers Friday (April 9) of failing to protect civilians when rebels attacked a northern town last weekend, but said the violence should not delay a possible U.N.
    withdrawal.
    One eyewitness explained what he say.
    "Monuc did not do anything, a Monuc soldier was standing guard here but he did not do anything. He only looked through his binouculars and the Enyele made their way to the provincial assembly and then to the airport,'' Adrien Banksita said.
    What was a remote insurgency spread to a provincial capital as the U.N. peacekeeping mission, which is much criticized, but backs a weak national army against rebel groups across Democratic Republic of Congo, is under pressure to start withdrawing this year.
    Information Minister Lambert Mende accused the U.N. of failing to protect citizens after armed U.N. peacekeepers watched from a sentry box as the rebels landed on shore and killed their first victim, a boatman whose is commemorated in chalk on the side of a boat, dubbed the first martyr of the attack.
    Civilians said the rebels avoided hurting the local population, however, and headed straight for specific targets - the governor's residence and the airport.
    The national FARDC army claimed a victory in recapturing the airport and repelling rebels into surrounding forest within 24 hours, but said some soldiers had also committed crimes during the attack, including desertion and pillaging.
    A military hearing held in Mbandaka saw defence lawyers pleading their clients' cases before a military panel.
    The U.N. mission, which is the world's biggest with nearly 22,000 men, questioned Mende's version of events and said it was not clear if the incident would have an effect on drawdown plans.
    The U.N. mission, which has grown into the largest U.N. peacekeeping force in the world, has been central to efforts to pacify Congo since a 1998-2003 war in which millions of people were killed.
    The mission is under government pressure to begin withdrawing in June when the vast state celebrates 50 years of independence from Belgian colonial rule, and to leave completely by 2011 when elections are due.
    Human rights groups have said MONUC's withdrawal could spell disaster for civilians caught up in the conflicts.
    The violence may also discourage foreign investment in a country that depends heavily on mining revenue and is trying to persuade foreign oil majors to develop its oil reserves.
    Most of the nearly 22,000 U.N. peacekeepers are based in east Congo, where they are helping the government try to oust Rwandan Hutu rebels.
    The stretched force also faces local rebellions and Ugandan rebels in the remote northeast.
    Refugees International says more than 200,000 people had fled the violence since a tribal dispute over fishing rights flared in October and a local witchdoctor led an attack on Dongo, 100 km (62 miles) north of Mbandaka, killing hundreds.
    Equateur's Governor told Reuters Mbandaka sorely needs development to win the population round and provide development.
    Analysts said a long-standing row between the Enyele, a sub-tribe of the Lobala, and the Boba, may have been hijacked by groups trying to foment trouble in the region, which was once favoured by government but is now an opposition stronghold.
    Diplomats say the province has been starved of government support since Mobutu was kicked out, referring to Congo's dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who was from the province and poured money into it for decades until he was ousted in 1997.
    Since Mobutu, the region's highest-profile politician has been former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, now awaiting trial for war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Several supporters of the MLC are suspected to have helped fund the attack.
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