Pak troops in Congo aided gold smugglers: UN probe

However, it found no evidence supporting allegations that Pakistani peacekeepers in the town of Mongbwalu supplied arms to the militia, known as the Nationalist and Integrationist Front.

The findings were criticised by the New York-based Human Rights Watch, which has conducted its own investigation. A representative of the group said UN investigators had ample evidence—including photos and eyewitness testimony—of the Pakistanis’ involvement in the illicit trade. “The Pakistanis had a cozy relationship with the leaders of the armed group they were supposed to be protecting the population from,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, a London-based researcher with Human Rights Watch.

Pakistan’s UN ambassador Munir Akram said his government will conduct its own investigation and “take the appropriate disciplinary action”.

Akram emphasised that the more than 10,000 Pakistani peacekeepers play a vital role in bringing peace to Congo and elsewhere. “You will have some lapses,” he said. “But this should not blur the larger picture, which is the exemplary conduct and contribution of the Pakistani peacekeepers.”

The Pakistani contingent is part of a force that the UN sent to Congo in 2000 to help end a regional war pitting Congo, Angola and Zimbabwe against Rwanda and Uganda.

UN is also reviewing allegations that Indian peacekeepers in eastern Congo traded food rations and intelligence to Rwandan Hutu rebels for gold.