U.N. official vows to step up aid after attack on Congo camp

By MOSES SAWASAWA
Associated Press

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — A top U.N. peacekeeping official has vowed to step up humanitarian assistance to Congo’s Ituri province, where militiamen killed at least 60 people at a displaced persons camp this month. U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix made the pledge Tuesday on a visit to the region. Lacroix stepped in after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres canceled his trip because of the mounting crisis in Ukraine. He assured the province, “The United Nations has not forgotten the people of Ituri.” The CODECO militia that a monitoring group blamed for the early February attack on the Roe displaced persons camp also is considered responsible for scores of other deaths over the past year.