Oct. 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –
A UN peacekeeper in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was shot dead late this Friday in the east of the country during an assault by armed men, allegedly belonging to the Twirwaneho militia.
The incident took place during what was originally going to be an arms delivery ceremony at a camp of the UN mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, in the conflictive region of South Kivu, according to a press release from the mission.
“An attack on UN peacekeepers may constitute a war crime,” MONUSCO lamented in a statement, without giving further details about the deceased.
“MONUSCO calls on the Congolese authorities to deploy all possible efforts to hold accountable those responsible for this heinous attack and expresses its most sincere condolences to the family and country of origin of the late blue helmet,” it added in the note, published on his Twitter account.
The Twirwaneho militia, which claims to defend the interests of the Banyamulenge community, a Congolese Tutsi minority, is part of the hundred armed groups that have contributed to the insecurity that has plagued the east of the African country for years.
