Additional troops from India, Pakistan to bolster UN peacekeeping force in DR of Congo

Thousands of soldiers from India and Pakistan are heading to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to bolster the United Nations peacekeeping operation there.

UN officials told the UN News Service today that each of the South Asian countries is supplying a brigade of up to 3,000 troops to the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC). They will be deployed in the Kivus, located near the troubled eastern border area.

The contributions include both motorized infantry battalions and mechanized battalions that use armoured personnel carriers (APCs).

India is also providing four attack helicopters, six utility helicopters and four observation helicopters for use by the mission, according to the officials.

The first battalions from India started moving in by air on 20 November. India's deployment is expected to be completed by Wednesday, while Pakistan will finish deploying in January.

Originally set up five years ago, MONUC is mandated to monitor implementation of a ceasefire agreement signed in 1999 by the DRC along with Angola, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Most recently, the Council asked MONUC to undertake a number of other tasks, including maintaining a presence in the “key areas of potential volatility in order to promote the re-establishment of confidence, to discourage violence, in particular by deterring the use of force to threaten the political process, and to allow UN personnel to operate freely, particularly in the eastern part of the DRC.”