French troops in gun battle in Congo
Special forces sustain no injuries
Concerns rise over limited mandate
BUNIA, Congo—French troops leading an emergency force in Congo came under fire for the first time yesterday in their mission to stabilize this northeastern town ravaged by tribal turf wars.
The firefight on the outskirts of Bunia, from which the French special forces emerged unscathed, occurred amid growing concern that the force's mandate is too limited and does not include the demilitarization of the town that six weeks ago boasted a university, a brand-new mobile phone network and a thriving trade in gold.
"I don't know why they are here," said Jan Mol, a Dutch priest who has lived in Bunia for 15 years. "It's just show.''
The French patrol — among the first 400 members of a force expected to number 1,400 — returned small arms, heavy machine gun and light tank fire after being fired at by attackers about 6 kilometres south of Bunia, spokesman Maj. Xavier Pons said.
Pons said it was impossible to know who provoked the 20-minute gun battle and whether the 70 French troops and 20 vehicles were the target or had been caught in the crossfire between the Lendu and Hema tribal militia.
The Hema Union of Congolese Patriots, or UPC, which currently controls the town, blamed the Lendu for the attack on the French patrol. The Lendu could not be reached for comment.
Later, French troops scoured the hilly area from where the fire had come but found nothing — "no corpses, nothing," Pons said.
The Hema and Lendu militias began intense fighting for control of Bunia, the capital of unstable Ituri province, in early May after some 6,000 troops from neighbouring Uganda pulled out in accordance with an agreement to end a five-year civil war in Africa's third-largest nation.
More than 400 people were killed in a week of fighting between the tribal factions.
The militias were armed with bows and arrows, machetes, assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
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