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The United Nations has praised specialised police units from India and Bangladesh for saving civilian lives in the last week's heavy fighting in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC.)

The specialised armoured police units, known as Formed Police Units (FPUs), extricated people who were inside homes where mortar rounds and other munitions were being deployed, UN Police (UNPOL) Adviser Mark Kroeker told the UN News Service on Friday.

The UN mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, estimates that hundreds were killed and many more wounded in the violence which broke out on March 22 between government forces and guards of former Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, who was defeated last year by current President Joseph Kabila in the run-off round of landmark presidential elections.

The FPUs, which were operating at considerable risk to themselves, rescued not only "the high-level people such as ambassadors, but also just ordinary people who are trapped and who needed to be evacuated from the line of fire," Kroeker added, praising their performance and voicing his gratitude to the police officers, some whom were injured.

"They were in what turned out to be almost a military environment, but they operated as a rescue unit helping people," he added.

FPUs were first used as part of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), and their success there and in other operations has led to calls for increasing deployment, and to date, there are 35 units in six missions worldwide.

Each of these units, comprising over 100 police officers from a single country, is highly mobile and tactically ready to respond to various situations, including crowd control, riots or natural disasters, in which local agencies are overwhelmed or lack capacity due to conflict.

FPUs, known for their competence and efficiency, have demonstrated "compassion and caring" not only last week in the DRC, but in other instances as well, Kroeker said.

For example, a Jordanian FPU with UNMIL in Liberia recently visited an orphanage housing approximately 350 children who lost their parents in the civil war that ravaged the country bringing with them food from their own storage to feed the orphans.

An Indian FPU stationed in Kisangani in the DRC is aiding in the re-equipment of schools and also assisting community members with a range of tasks, including helping people start their cars.

Kroeker noted that such efforts help to hasten communities' acceptance of the UNPOL officers and also show that "they're more than just police officers, but police officers who care" with a "beating humanitarian heart under that big facade of the tough cop".