UN nations step forward to boost force numbers in DRC

The forces of India, Pakistan, South Africa and Uruguay are likely to boost their numbers in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following the decision on 20 November by the UN Security Council (UNSC) to reinforce the world's largest peacekeeping operation with an additional 3,100 personnel.

Most of the forces will be deployed to the restive North and South Kivu provinces where ethnic Tutsi rebels opened an offensive in late August.

Senior UN officials said that preliminary discussions with the already contributing nations have been continuing in anticipation of a pledging conference expected "within a week" after the unanimous vote by the UNSC, with deployments expected before the end of the year.

The reinforcements will comprise soldiers, police officers and technical advisors, one official said. It will not, however, incorporate the rapid-reaction force widely considered to be the most crucial military requirement ahead of a clear political solution to the crisis.

India and South Africa have also informally indicated they could also provide some of the 18 utility helicopters and C-130 medium-lift transport aircraft requested to enhance the capacity of the mission known as MONUC.

Despite weeks of pronouncements from senior European diplomats about the need for swift action to reinforce MONUC and a plea from European parliamentarians that followed the UN resolution, no decisions have been taken to commit European troops to DRC under what one UN official described as an "angrier" mandate than the one that proscribed UN operations.

Image: UN peacekeepers on patrol in eastern DRC (PA Photos) 240 of 719 words