Global Policy Forum

By Xan Rice

CAPTAIN Shahid Ashraf Khan and his team of 20 Bangladeshi peacekeepers were patrolling the foothills that rise above Lake Albert last Friday morning when they heard a wild shout in Congolese. Then a loud whistle. Then the rattle of gunfire. "We are encircled," Captain Khan shouted into his radio. "Bring the helicopters. One of my men has been shot." His colleagues manning the base at Kafe, a few kilometres away, then listened with horror as Captain Khan started reciting verses from the Koran that are usually read out when somebody is about to die.

Reinforcements were called in to help the patrol, but it was too late. Nine peacekeepers were killed in the worst attack on UN forces in Africa since the Rwandan genocide in 1994. And as the bodies were returned yesterday to Bangladesh, which held a national day of mourning, details of their horrific deaths began to emerge. UN troops in Kafe told The Times that the bodies had been severely mutilated by the time they were recovered.

Captain Khan, who was 30 and engaged to be married, had his eyes gouged out. The eight other members of the platoon known as Banbat 2 had been stripped naked. Some had been shot at close range. Others have deep cuts to their knees, thighs and backs. One man had his head sliced open and his brains spilt out, according to one of the soldiers who helped to move the bodies. "They were definitely tortured," Lieutenant-Colonel Shahid Ul-Islam, acting head of the Kafe base, said. "It may have been after they were dead, but we think it may have happened while they were still alive."

The attackers, who numbered more than a hundred, fled into the bush. Suspicion has fallen on the Front Nationaliste Integrationiste (FNI), a militia group from the Lendu tribe that has been terrorising villagers along the shores of Lake Albert for two months.

The Lendu militia have a history of mutilation and even cannibalism. Two years ago they killed two UN peacekeepers in the same mineral-rich province of Ituri; covering them with cigarette burns and cutting off their penises. Although the FNI has denied any involvement in the attacks, a highly placed Congolese source said that the Government had arrested the leader of the FNI in the capital, Kinshasha. The Government also said it would send 3,000 troops to the region to track down the killers.

The Bangladeshi peacekeepers were sent to Kafe in January by Monuc, the UN mission to Congo, to help to protect more than 10,000 people who had gathered to escape the fighting between the FNI and a rival militia from the Hema tribe. Situated on a strip of land between mountains and Lake Albert, Kafe is highly vulnerable to attack. The only way in or out is by helicopter or boat.

Lieutenant-Colonel Ul-Islam said that the attack caught his troops by surprise. "We were not expecting any threat to us," he said. Now they are wiser. Coils of razor wire encircle the camp. The mood is still very tense, as Lieutenant-Colonel Ul-Islam has received information that the camp is under threat of attack once more. FNI members have been abducting women in the hills around Kafe, and boats full of militiamen have been seeing crossing the bay in front of Kafe. Lacking any boats, the men of Banbat 2 cannot do anything about these rebels.

But Lieutenant-Colonel Ul-Islam insists morale is good, and while clearly upset by the death of his men, he seems in no hurry to strike back. "We are in a dilemma over what action to take," he said. "We are very upset, but we don't want to antagonise the situation."

Floribert Nustali, 37, one of the displaced people in the camp, said: "We feel the pain of the peacekeepers, and are so glad they are still with us. Without them, a lot of civilians would be killed." And for many of the troops here, that seems enough. Major AK Azad said: "Some of us have given our lives. But if it brings peace to Congo, it will be worth it."

But as The Times left by boat, the driver pointed to another craft a few hundreds metres away. "FNI" he said softly, opening the throttle.

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