UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
3 Mar
2009
One Blue helmet killed, five others wounded in an ambush at Geti
On 12 May 2005, at 14: 15, a patrol composed of about 40 Blue helmets from the Bangladeshi contingent of the Ituri Brigade were ambushed by a group of 20 armed elements who opened fire on the patrol. The Blue helmets responded.
The ambush left 6 Blue helmets wounded: 3 were wounded when their vehicle overturned and 3 others hit by bullets, one of them grievously. The latter died from his wounds a few hours later.
The patrol, aboard two troop transport armoured vehicles and two light vehicles, was returning to Bunia after a zone control mission in the region of GETI (55 km south of Bunia, in the district of Ituri), a region traditionally under the control of the ex-militia of the Front de Résistance Patriotique de l?Ituri (FRPI).
A MI-25 attack helicopter arrived at the scene of the ambush at 14: 30 and opened fire on the armed groups. The wounded were immediately evacuated to Bunia.
In this same sector, two weeks ago, MONUC intervened to lend support to troops of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), following clashes with armed elements from the ex-FRPI militia.
Also on May 12, in a separate incident, 7 armed elements of the ex-militia of the UPC were captured by Blue helmets of the Pakistani contingent of the Ituri Brigade after a gun battle at Iga Barriere between Nizi and Largo northeast of Bunia. The armed elements had opened fire on the convoy of the peacekeepers who returned fire.
These actions are typical of extremists who are testing the intentions and the operations of the FARDC and of MONUC, and who have so far refused to join the Disarmament and Community Reintegration (DCR) process.
The patrol, aboard two troop transport armoured vehicles and two light vehicles, was returning to Bunia after a zone control mission in the region of GETI (55 km south of Bunia, in the district of Ituri), a region traditionally under the control of the ex-militia of the Front de Résistance Patriotique de l?Ituri (FRPI).
A MI-25 attack helicopter arrived at the scene of the ambush at 14: 30 and opened fire on the armed groups. The wounded were immediately evacuated to Bunia.
In this same sector, two weeks ago, MONUC intervened to lend support to troops of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), following clashes with armed elements from the ex-FRPI militia.
Also on May 12, in a separate incident, 7 armed elements of the ex-militia of the UPC were captured by Blue helmets of the Pakistani contingent of the Ituri Brigade after a gun battle at Iga Barriere between Nizi and Largo northeast of Bunia. The armed elements had opened fire on the convoy of the peacekeepers who returned fire.
These actions are typical of extremists who are testing the intentions and the operations of the FARDC and of MONUC, and who have so far refused to join the Disarmament and Community Reintegration (DCR) process.
