UN soldier wounded during Congo firefight

UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) "vigorously responded" to attacks on blue helmet troops last night, kicking off a prolonged firefight in which one UN soldier was lightly wounded, according to a dispatch released today from Kinshasa.

The report from the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC) said that at about 8pm the UN garrison outside of Bunia, near the Ugandan border, came under attack from a group of gunmen inside the town and from others outside it.

"It is clear that the shots were aimed directly at the blue helmets of the MONUC," the dispatch said, in what it called a "planned and synchronized" attack by guerrillas of the Patriotic Congolese Union (UPC), and from armed members of the Lendu tribe nearby.

The UN brigade "vigorously responded to the military provocation", MONUC said, in a firefight that lasted two hours. One UN soldier was lightly wounded and casualties on the other side were unknown.

MONUC said Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for the DRC, William Lacy Swing, had contacted Congolese military commanders to report the incident.

At a meeting Thursday with all the military groups, except the UPC, MONUC had called for a demilitarization of Bunia and a prohibition of all public demonstrations not authorized by the UN peacekeepers.

The MONUC statement said the UN believes "such provocations and attacks are intolerable" and warned that it will take "all necessary measures" to ensure security in Bunia.

(gmcg)