DRC: Militiamen killed nine United Nations Bangladeshi peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday in the worst attack against the force in the central African country, a UN spokesman said.
"I can confirm that nine Bangladeshis were killed," spokesman Mr Mamadou Ba said.
One UN source said soldiers had recovered the bodies of their comrades after two UN patrols were ambushed in the lawless Ituri district of the former Zaire.
"The peacekeepers were fired upon from all sides," said a second UN military source.
That source said it was not clear how many troops had been on patrol but that the number should have been between 20 and 30. He said 90 peacekeepers backed by two Mi-25 attack helicopters are now at the scene.
The United Nations has a 4,800-strong force in Ituri made up of four contingents from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco and Nepal. The total force in Congo numbers 16,000, making it the world body's biggest peacekeeping operation.
Ituri is one of Congo's worst trouble spots, where ethnic militias have killed 50,000 civilians since 1999 - the year the current UN MONUC force was established there.
One of the sources said the patrols were attacked in Ndoki, some 30 km (19 miles) east of Ituri's main city of Bunia and an area controlled by a predominantly ethnic Lendu militia known as FNI.
It was not clear if the victims were killed on the spot or taken away and killed later.
"Lendus are not people that take hostages, they just kill," the source said, adding that heavy rains in Ituri were making search and rescue operations difficult.
"It seems like a very well planned and executed ambush," he said.
In a statement, MONUC called the killings a "premeditated attack" against its troops because of their recent drive to arrest and disarm militias terrorising civilians in Ituri.
"This attack can only strengthen MONUC's resolve to continue its actions aiming at neutralising the armed groups and protect the population," the statement said.
Speaking for the UN in Eklou, Mr Rachel Eklou said peacekeepers had carried out searches in the FNI-controlled town of Datule, just east of Bunia, on Thursday.
"We arrested 30 people, including 29 who we think were FNI militiamen. They have been transported to Bunia," she said.
The former Belgian colony is struggling to recover from a wider five-year war that at one stage sucked in six neighbouring countries and reportedly killed nearly 4 million people.
Despite the size of the UN force in Ituri, attacks on civilians remain frequent. Clashes between militia during the last two months alone have displaced some 70,000 civilians, aid workers say.