UN, Congolese troops capture military base from militia

UN peacekeepers and government troops of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Saturday regained the control of a town used as a military base by a militia gang after days of a joint operation.

Some 300 UN peacekeepers and 1,500 Congolese soldiers launched an attack on Nioka, in the eastern Ituri province, and won control of the town after days of fighting, a spokesman of the UN forces in Congo was quoted by press reports as saying.

About 30 gunmen were killed in the combat, the spokesman added. The militia, with about 500 gunmen, had been using Nioka as a base to mount attacks and rob civilians.

The fighting came days after 83 percent of the Congolese voters agreed to a post-war constitution in the Dec. 18 referendum, paving the way for general polls next year.

The DRC, formerly Zaire, is rich in minerals but ravaged by its last war from 1998 to 2003, which left nearly 4 million people dead, most from disease and hunger.

The war officially ended in 2003, but bands of gunmen refused to be disarmed and continued terrorizing civilians in large areas of the country, particularly in the lawless but mineral-rich eastern region.

Source: Xinhua