UN combat intervention brigade

MUTAHO, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Congolese government forces supported by helicopters attacked M23 rebel positions near the eastern city of Goma on Tuesday in a third day of heavy fighting that has forced hundreds of villagers to flee their homes and raised tensions with Rwanda.

The clashes have also focused attention on the role of the United Nations, which is deploying a new force with a mandate to attack rebel groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The 3,000-strong Intervention Brigade, made up of South African, Tanzania and Malawian troops, has begun patrols but not yet engaged in combat.

The United Nations has warned it would block any attack on Goma, a city of one million people bordering Rwanda, which was briefly captured by rebels in November.

A Reuters reporter in Mutaho, some 7 km (4 miles) northeast of Goma, saw three army attack helicopters bombard rebel positions in the town of Kibati, 4 km further north of Goma.

The 17,000-strong U.N. force in Congo (MONUSCO), the world's largest peacekeeping mission, has been deployed for more than a decade but has failed to stem a conflict in which millions have died from violence, hunger and disease since the 1990s.

The arrival of the Intervention Brigade has raised hopes of peace. The World Bank is offering $1 billion to regional governments to promote development if they respect a U.N.-brokered February deal not to back rebels in mineral-rich eastern Congo.

Peace talks between the Congolese government and M23 in Kampala, the capital of neighboring Uganda, have stalled.

With the United Nations saying it would intervene with "lethal force" to protect civilians, the Congolese army has encouraged people displaced by the fighting to return home.

Underscoring the challenge of pacifying eastern Congo, MONUSCO said on Monday that one of its patrols had been ambushed by Ugandan ADF rebels near the town of Beni, some 250 km (150 miles) to the north of Goma.

Two U.N. vehicles were damaged in the attack which was fought off by Nepalese and Jordanian peacekeepers on their way to investigate reports of rights abuses by the ADF.

Have UN forces ever actually fought in combat?  I have seen them deployed all over, but have yet to see them actually accomplish what they said they would.

First time ever. Sets a curious precedent that we primarilly fund it, yet have relatively little true power or authority over it. Only in the congo for now, but stand by for a combat zone near you!

UNOCI for one.

'Bout time the UN grew a pair. Their official role is "peacekeeping" but sometimes keeping the peace means offing some bad guys, not just sitting there saying "ok, stop that or we'll have to protest at your actions again". The ROE for UN troops up until now were ridiculous, they're so restrictive that the soldiers might as well not have guns in the first place. Back in the 90s during the Bosnian war the UN declared the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia a "safe haven" but then sat back and let the Serbs take it over and massacre the muslim population (apparently the UN soldiers fired "warning shots" over their heads but weren't allowed do any more).

I remember that.  And wasn't there an incident where UN forces were told not to load ammo in their weapons?

But are combat teoops a part of the UN charter?