Congo: Ugandan Rebels Sent Away

Ugandan Rebels Sent Away

Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)

September 6, 2006: The presidential run-off election is now scheduled for October 29. Current president Joseoph Kabila will face Jean-Pierre Bemba in the run-off. The European peacekeeping force (EUFOR) remains deployed in Kinshasha, with supporting force in Gabon. Bemab's supporters are still accusing EUFOR and other UN forces of favoring Kabila. That's a bit of a stretch. Peacekeepers came to Bemba's rescue during the battle of Kinshasha that raged in the immediate aftermath of the fighting that broke out in mid-August. 31 people died in the fighting.

September 4, 2006: The Ugandan Lords Resistance army (LRA) rebels are leaving a base area in the eastern Congo ( the Garamba National Park area), and were seen heading for the Congo-Sudan border. The LRA rebels will assemble in south Sudan, per the recent peace deal with the Ugandan government. On August 30 Congolese government security forces clashed with an LRA contingent. The Congo government said that the LRA rebels had until mid-September to leave the Congo.

September 1, 2006: Gunmen robbed a refugee camp in the town of Gety (northeast Congo). The gunmen also attacked the headquarters of a medical NGO in the area and forced the medical group to leave. There are approximately 45,000 refugees in the camp at Gety.

The Indian Air Force began deploying a new aviation contingent to the Congo for duty with UN forces. The Indian force (Indian Aviation Contingent-1) has 243 airmen. The unit has four Mi-25 (also known as the Mi-24D) attack helicopters and five Mi-17 helicopters for transport work.

August 28, 2006: The International Criminal Court (ICC), in the Nague, Netherlands, charged a former Congolese militia leader with war crimes. Thomas Lubanga was a key commander in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC). Lubanga is charged with crimes committed between July 2002 and December 2003. Lubanga is charged with the "forced enlistment" of child soldiers. Lubanga also directed attacks on the Lendu tribe.