French troops occupied an abandoned village on the outskirts of Congo’s Bunia town on Wednesday, expanding their control of an area where tribal violence has killed hundreds. At least 40 soldiers backed by five armoured vehicles began setting up positions at a Dele village shortly after dawn on the day an extended deadline for all gunmen to leave northeastern Bunia town was due to expire. “It is a strong signal for all the militias that the force holds the strategic points around Bunia,” Major Xavier Pons, deputy spokesman for a French-led international peace force, told reporters who visited the village. The village, which lies about seven km (four miles) south of Bunia and controls a key road into the town, is a ramshackle settlement of little more than a dozen crude concrete and mud buildings including now-shut gold trading shops. It has periodically been a bastion for a militia linked to the Lendu tribe that has battled rival gunmen of the Hema community for months. The French soldiers are part of a French-led international force sent this month to protect Bunia’s civilians from months of militia violence. The force said its action in Dele was a step towards creating a security perimeter around Bunia that would enable it to control the main routes to the town. Full Story
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