An aircraft carrying a government delegation sent to ease hostilities between ethnic militias in Ituri District, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was hit by gunfire on Thursday as it approached Bunia airstrip.
The stricken aircraft diverted to the Ugandan city of Entebbe, a 25 minute flight away, where it made an emergency landing.
“Two shells hit the plane, damaging the right engine,” Vital Kamerhe, the commissioner-general of the DRC government in charge of the peace process in the Great Lakes region, said on Friday at a news conference in Kinshasa.
“The plane caught fire but the passengers’ lives were saved, thanks to the pilot’s skill,” he added.
The mission to Ituri, led by DRC Human Rights Minister Ntumba Lwaba, was sent to urge all belligerent parties to withdraw from Bunia to bases outside the town, with the support of the UN Mission in the DRC, known as Monuc, and as demanded by the Ituri Pacification Commission.
The aircraft incident followed two days of intense fighting between ethnic militias that erupted as the last remaining Ugandan military forces withdrew from Bunia. Uganda began to withdraw its troops from Ituri on 24 April, in line with an agreement signed between presidents Joseph Kabila of the DRC and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.
Although Monuc has confirmed the complete withdrawal of Ugandan forces from Bunia, it has reported that some still remain in DRC, heading back to Uganda.
“The situation remains very tense in the city, and pillaging has continued, unfortunately,” Hamadoun Toure, the Monuc spokesperson, said.
He said at least 4 000 people had found refuge in Monuc offices while another 2 000 were camped at the airstrip. Monuc’s chief of public information, Patricia Tome, said there was hardly any food in the town.
“The people are expecting us to provide them with food, but we only have enough supplies to feed our own personnel for another day,” Tome said, adding that exact figures of casualties were not yet available.
“Our forces have recovered the bodies of national police, and have found several other bodies around the city, but at present it is impossible to provide figures for the past couple of days,” she said. – Irin