KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The head of the United Nations is again calling on the international community to support security efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote in a letter to the U.N. Security Council that the peacekeeping mission in DR Congo requires additional international commitments to deploy troops. The letter echoed a request Ban made in November, calling for 3,000 more troops to counter the escalating violence in the east of the country, the United Nations reported.
Despite a troop commitment from Bangladesh and equipment support from Belgium, along with promises from several other countries, the call for more troops on the ground so far has gone unanswered.
Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Yukio Takasu, the current Security Council president, Tuesday joined Ban's call, saying, "The Security Council needs to help expedite the full deployment that has been authorized."
