25dec05
UN and Congolese troops have captured a base used by a militia gang, killing about 30 gunmen in an operation aimed at restoring security to a volatile eastern province, the UN said.
The capture of Nioka, 80km north-east of Bunia, was the result of a joint operation lasting several days by 300 Nepalese UN peacekeepers and 1,500 government soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri province. UN helicopter gunships backed the ground troops.
'This morning at dawn, MONUC (UN) forces and the Congolese government army launched an attack on the town of Nioka, and gained control,' Major Hans-Jakob Reichen, a military spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force, said.
'About 30 gunmen have been killed in the combat,' he added.
The fighting highlighted security problems in the east days after millions of Congolese had voted on Sunday in a referendum on a new constitution.
Official results announced on Saturday, with counting completed from nearly three quarters of polling stations, showed voters had overwhelmingly adopted the new post-war constitution that paves the way for national elections next year.
The Independent Electoral Commission said the 'Yes' vote had won 83 per cent, while the 'No' vote had nearly 17 per cent.
The UN and Congolese military operation had targeted a 500-strong militia band led by Peter Karim, which had been using Nioka as a base to mount attacks and rob civilians.
Reichen said the UN and Congolese forces had captured two of Karim's bodyguards and seized 17 weapons and a truck carrying timber. They were pursuing the rest of the gang.
The UN's biggest peacekeeping force is trying to bring security to Congo after a five-year war estimated to have killed nearly 4 million people, mainly through hunger and disease.
The war officially ended in 2003, but bands of gunmen still terrorise civilians in large areas of the country, particularly eastern areas whose mineral riches are believed to have fuelled a conflict that at one point drew in six foreign armies.
The December 18 referendum on whether to accept the proposed constitution was the first free national poll held in Congo after more than four decades of dictatorship, wars and chaos.
Independent Electoral Commission President Apollinaire Malu Malu told reporters the electoral body was still counting the outstanding votes and added the Supreme Court would have to certify the final results and deal with any complaints.
But as the results stood so far, the 'Yes' vote lead seemed unassailable.
International observers said the referendum was free and fair, but the opposition has said there were irregularities and protested over the detention by police last week of a spokesman for the 'No' campaign. He was later released.
The constitution allows for a decentralised political system with provincial administrations responsible for local decision making and controlling 40 per cent of public funds.
After Congo endured decades of dictatorship under late president Mobutu Sese Seko, who was ousted in 1997, the charter limits the president to two five-year terms. It also requires him to name a prime minister from the parliamentary majority.
President Joseph Kabila, who became head of state after his father Laurent was assassinated in 2001, had called for a big 'Yes' vote for the constitution, saying its rejection would be disastrous for the country's peace process."
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