<P> An Egyptian battalion appears to have arrived by September 1960, but left by early 1961 after a dispute about the UN's role . On 26 January 1961, the Secretary - General reported that the government of the United Arab Republic (the Egyptian - Syrian union) had made an oral request that it's contingent, numbering approximately 510 officers and men, be repatriated by 1 February . It appears the contingent, a parachute battalion, was located in January 1961 at Lisala in Equateur Province, where visits of UAR Ilyushin aircraft caused concern . </P> <P> During the first three years of its operation, ONUC managed to successfully improve the internal security of the Congo . </P> <P> In the years following the Congo Crisis, most Congolese viewed ONUC as an unwelcome foreign interference in their country's affairs . </P> <P> ONUC was the first UN peacekeeping mission to employ force as a means of implementing the decisions of the Security Council . It was also the first mission to enforce a no - fly zone and an arms embargo . </P>

When did the democratic republic of congo join the un