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U.N. appeal over Congo violence
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- United Nations officials are pleading for urgent attention to the escalating "bloody violence" in the northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where fighting between rival militia groups has resulted in indiscriminate killings. Speaking Wednesday in New York the U.N. Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Carolyn McAskie, called the situation "extremely dangerous, even desperate. We are focusing on basic life-saving intervention." "You cannot imagine what is happening here," said Michele Noureddine-Kassa, who is in Bunia and leads the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs there. "It is a miracle there are not more killed. Civilians are treated as if they don't exist, by both sides." The U.N. compound in the northeastern town of Bunia was hit by a shell, killing one refugee and wounding at least 13 others, a U.N. official said Wednesday. More than 100 people have been killed this week in Bunia, including people killed in hospitals, the United Nations said. McAskie said the situation is similar to the ethnic killing in Rwanda in 1994. While it is not yet on the scale of Rwanda, McAskie said, Bunia has "shades of Rwanda" with "a nasty cocktail of rebel groups" and "local authorities playing on inter-ethnic hatreds." The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, also expressed grave concern at the indiscriminate killing going on in Bunia. The fighting is taking place between the rival Hema and Lendu militia groups in the region. Violence broke out after the withdrawal of Ugandan troops who, according to one U.N. official, "had been keeping a lid on" the inter-ethnic violence. "We have witnessed weapons of mass destruction," Noureddine-Kassa said. "These weapons are called machetes and AK-47s." DarknessAbout 3,000 refugees have taken shelter at the U.N. compound in Bunia, where the U.N. says it has only a core staff of eight people. Another 5,000 refugees have massed at the Bunia airport. The rest of Bunia is in "total darkness and obscurity" as the fighting rages, Noureddine-Kassa said. Roughly 50,000 refugees are moving south from Bunia to the town of Beni, the United Nations has said. The World Food Program is reporting that as many as 12,000 people have crossed into Uganda. Two U.N. military observers have also been reported missing since Tuesday in Mongbwalu, a town north of Bunia. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged the expansion of the U.N. peacekeeping force there -- an idea currently under discussion by the U.N. Security Council. France has stepped forward as the likely leader of any force expansion but is seeking partners. The current U.N. peacekeeping mission -- MONUC -- has just over 700 Uruguayan troops in Bunia but are limited in what they can do to help civilians. According to a U.N. peacekeeping official, the troops do have a mandate to protect civilians "but don't have the capacity to intervene between warring parties to stop the conflict." The overall strength of MONUC in various parts of the DRC is roughly 4,300 troops and 500 military observers.
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We have witnessed weapons of mass destruction ... These weapons are called machetes and AK-47s
