Abid Aslam
01/26/2006

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Below is an excerpt of an article from One World:

The UN Security Council has condemned an attack that killed eight Guatemalan UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) amid a new wave of violence sweeping the former Zaire and its neighbors in Africa's Great Lakes region.

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The 15-member council, in a unanimous move Wednesday, denounced the attack as ''an unacceptable outrage.''

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Since last August, fighting between various armed groups has displaced more than 100,000 civilians, according to MSF. Several waves of violence have washed over Katanga province in the two years since DRC's civil war was officially declared over.

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Washington, D.C.-based Refugees International, in a written statement, urged Security Council members to increase support for peacekeeping operations and ratchet up ''commitment from all regional governments to assist their populations, protect them from illegal armed groups, and stem the flow of weapons.''

Silencing the guns would be key as ''civilians are difficult for humanitarian agencies to access because of the remoteness of their locations and ongoing insecurity,'' wrote Michelle Brown, Refugees International's UN representative.

She further highlighted the plight of women, who ''continue to be systematically targeted for acts of sexual violence by all armed groups.''

Refugees International welcomed moves to prevent and punish sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers but urged more action. ''Congolese women and girls who suffer sexual abuse should have access to greater support and improved services,'' Brown said.

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In the latest display of volatility, about 20,000 fled violence in eastern DRC late last week and sought refuge over the border in Uganda, the UN refugee agency said on Sunday.