croissants and frites for nt, page-3

re: croissants and frites for nt--oh oh-trouble Fresh fighting hits DR Congo


The French are leading an EU force to bolster peacekeeping efforts
Fighting has broken out in the town of Bunia in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, just 24 hours after the arrival of an advance party of French peacekeepers.
Early in the morning, the sound of gunfire and mortar shells could be heard near the town and the fighting has since moved to the centre, with civilians streaming through the streets seeking shelter.

The BBC's Ishbel Matheson, who is in the United Nations compound in Bunia, says gunfire can be heard slamming into the walls and the building trembles as mortar shells thump nearby.


BUNIA CONFLICT

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50,000 killed in recent years
Ethnic rivalries made worse by foreign armies


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She says she has been told by the UN and the Hema militias which control the town that the attacks have been launched by Lendu fighters seeking to secure positions before the intervention force is deployed.

French soldiers form the nucleus of a 1,400-strong UN-mandated force to provide security in Bunia, where hundreds of people have been killed during weeks of violence between rival ethnic militias.

Our correspondent says that, although some of the mission has arrived in Bunia, the bulk of it has not, and there is not much that peacekeeping soldiers can do at the moment.


Dozens of French special forces troops who arrived on Friday remain at the airport, a couple of kilometres outside the town.

The European Union ratified the dispatch of the force on Thursday - the first time EU peacekeeping troops have been deployed outside Europe.

Forces

France, which is experienced in intervening in African trouble spots, will supply about 700 of the troops.


Relieved residents have been living in terror for months
As well as the UK, diplomats say Belgium, Sweden and Ireland may also participate, along with a number of African nations such as South Africa and Senegal.

The Congolese Government has denied that its troops were involved in killings in Ituri over the weekend, in which fighters from the majority Lendu community are reported to have slaughtered at least 100 people in a village populated by Hema people.

Tens of thousands of refugees, many of them children, have been fleeing attacks from militia around Bunia, according to Ugandan reports.

Civilians have been arriving in the Congolese town of Beni, 150 kilometres (93 miles) to the south, and their numbers have raised concern about a possible food crisis there.