UN Does Something in Africa!

The UN actually fired some shots in an effort to bring normalcy to areas of Africa, the New York Times reports with some surprise in an article headlined "Novely in Congo: UN Investigates a Massacre." (here)

Here's a look at life in the Congo village of Ndrele:

Theft was commonplace when the militiamen from the Armed Forces of the Congolese People ran Ndrele. A woman selling fruit says she had to give some to whichever armed man came by. At the end of the day, other guerrillas would insist on a portion of her profits. They called it taxation.

The men would beat or kill anyone who dared to resist. Rape was a constant danger. One activist, Sofi Aromborac, has a list of 282 girls and women who have been raped over the past two years. "Even if you were an old woman like me, you could be raped," she said.

Concerned about the rising abuses, United Nations peacekeepers, most from Nepal, surrounded the militia base on the hill overlooking the town in early December and ordered the fighters to surrender. When they refused, the two sides exchanged fire, with the guerrillas eventually breaking through the soldiers' line and retreating.

It was the largest military engagement involving Congo peacekeepers since they were deployed here in 2000, United Nations officials said. It was followed by a raid on another militia camp 12 miles away, in Mahagi. In that case, the militias retreated even more swiftly.

There you have it. After years of beatings, killings and 282 rapes by renegade forces, and we get Nepalese troops firing some shots in "the largest military engagement" by the UN in Congo in four years. Obviously, the UN shares the world's lack of commitment to do something really effective in Africa.