conflict in DRC caused the United Nations to seek additional military help from major powers. In July 2003, India announced that it would be sending an additional 300 personnel and combat aircraft from the Indian Air Force to strengthen the UN peacekeeping effort in DRC. In September 2003, the Ituri brigade was in place, including soldiers from Uruguay, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, India and Morocco. In November 2003, a total of 10,415 peacekeepers were in the DRC, comprising infantry units, engineer units, helicopter units, logistic units, medical units and riverine units. 2004 Deploying the Ituri brigade and conducting cordon and search operations improved the security conditions in Ituri but, at the same time, the peacekeepers became the target of the militias. On 12 February 2004, a military observer was killed in Ituri. With the arrival of the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which included members of rebel movements, more than 900 Tunisian and Ghanaian UN troops contributed to the security of Kinshasa. It was decided that the troops present in the Kivus will be assembled under the unified command of a brigade. In March the Nigerian General Samaila Iliya took over the command of the force. In June 2004, Bukavu, South Kivu was occupied by rebel general Laurent Nkunda. A military observer was killed. The 1,000 MONUC troops could only protect their own installations. Demonstrations were held all over the country and UN troops opened fire on looters in Kinshasa. MONUC soldiers were again targeted by Ituri militia at the end of 2004. Though the Secretary General had asked for an increase of 13,100 soldiers, in October 2004 the Security Council by Resolution 1565, authorized a reinforcement of 5,900 military personnel and defined the mandate with the strategic military objectives of the MONUC force as: proactively contributing to the pacification and general improvement of security in the country; providing support for conflict resolution in politically volatile areas; improving border security through regional confidence-building mechanisms, such as the Joint Verification Mechanism, and effective patrolling and monitoring of the arms embargo; gathering and analysing military and other information on spoilers. Following the UN resolution, the Indian Army announced that it would be sending an additional 850 troops and four combat helicopters to aid the MONUC peacekeeping effort. 2005 By 2005, the strength of UN peacekeeping forces in Congo reached more than 16,000 troops, split almost equally between the