UN says 65 killed in Congo, 40 of them Children

[Bandit]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&e=1&u=/nm/20031007/wl_nm/congo_democratic_dc

KINSHASA (Reuters) - The known death toll from a new massacre in northeastern Congo has risen to 65 people, including 40 children, United Nations officials said on Tuesday. A U.N. spokesman said the dead were all victims of an attack on Monday in the remote village of Katshelli, which U.N. troops visited on Tuesday.
<snip>
"Information is coming in bit by bit about the massacres but we can confirm that Katshelli was only one of four or five hamlets in close proximity hit by the attack," he said.
He said 20 wounded were being treated in the nearby town of Bule. The dead included women and had been either shot or hacked to death by machetes, U.N. officials said.
Katshelli and the surrounding area are predominantly inhabited by the Hema tribe, which has been embroiled in a bloody feud with the rival Lendu ethnic group for control of the mineral-rich Ituri region over the past four years.
<snip>
ETHNIC BLOODSHED
U.N. peacekeepers recently took over from a French-led force in Bunia, the main town in remote, densely-forested Ituri province, to stop the bloodshed between Hema and Lendu there.
On Tuesday, the force briefly dispatched helicopters and troops to Katshelli, some 60 km (40 miles) from Bunia to investigate the killings after its forces found 23 bodies there on Monday. Local villagers said then the bodies of other victims had already been buried after the attack.
Fighting between Hema and Lendu armed militias has killed more than 50,000 people since 1999 and displaced tens of thousands more.

[Bandit]

1. I am amazed no one is at all concerned about this

I guess African children aren't near as important as Ah-nold.

[atreides1]

3. You Forget...

...there is no oil in the Congo. And dead black children don't really
matter to Republicans, even here in the US.

Especially here in the US.

[hang a left]

5. All children are important, the most important people on this

God forsaken planet. I think that people just feel so hopeless and helpless about all the atocities in this world. It is very hard to hear about children being hurt.

[demdave]

2. Nice to see the UN and France have this in hand.

I am also very impressed with the powerful coalition of countries that are sending troops. /sarcasm/


Seriously, I notce that the European countries have done nothing. I understand why they don't help us in Iraq. What is ther excuse in the Congo? Further evidence that Europe does nothing but sit on their well fed duffs and complain. They must feel at home with the UN.

These are the people who want to have Iraq handed over to the? They couldn't control a foodfight in a grade school lunchroom.

[Bandit]

4. Also notice how quickly the US is responding ~ not.

If they weren't black children I suppose we would hear a little more about this. Also when the largest contributor to the UN refuses to pay their dues it is hard for them to operate in any meaningful way. That's right the US is spotless in these mass murders taking place, and it is all up to the Euopean nations to fix it. :shrug: whatever.