afrol News, 3 October - United Nations peacekeepers have enaged in full action yesterday with its attack helicopters firing rockets in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) against rebels attempting to advance against government, who had opened fire on UN reconnaissance planes.

Action was latest in a series of strikes against rebel Ituri Patriotic Resistance Front (FRPI) in Ituri province, and comes less than two weeks after peacekeepers from UN Mission in DRC (MONUC) sent in combat helicopters against another rebel group in North Kivu province, to the south, report said.

“MONUC is intervening with all means at its disposal, including attack helicopters, to protect civilian population which is in imminent danger,” UN mission said in a news release. “Moreover MONUC is cooperating with DRC armed forces to re-establish state authority over the whole of Ituri.”

FRPI members are said to have launched attacks on Monday against army, capturing two camps and advancing towards village of Aveba before they were repulsed by MONUC.

On 19 September, UN helicopters also opened fire on rebel National Congress for People’s Defence (CNDP) in North Kivu, forcing them to withdraw after they tried to take control of a town 60 kilometres from region’s main city, Goma.

Humanitarian and human rights organisations have reported a sharp increase in recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups in North Kivu, MONUC spokesman Michel Bonnardeaux told a news conference yesterday in capital Kinshasa, adding that this is a crime against humanity and a violation of an agreement they signed at beginning of the year.

Hostilities have continued in eastern DRC despite stabilisation in much of the rest of the vast country, which was torn by years of civil war. On Monday, DRC called for UN peacekeepers to be given a clear mandate and resources necessary to impose peace even by force if necessary.

“Confronted by the drama occurring in the east of the Congo, MONUC must be authorised to act, and can act in a convincing manner,” DRC's Permanent Representative Ileka Atoki told General Assembly’s annual general Debate.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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