The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned an attack on peacekeepers serving in the Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which took place during violent demonstrations at the mission’s base on Tuesday.
Two Indian police officers and a Moroccan ‘blue helmet’ were killed, and an Egyptian police officer injured.
According to news reports, at least 15 people died overall during a second day of protests in the restive North Kivu region with demonstrators accusing the United Nations of failing to do enough to stop a rise in deadly attacks by armed groups, some of which have been active in the area for decades.
Millions of people have been displaced by violence in recent years, with 97 civilians killed just last month alone in attacks across eastern DRC, that included abductions, looting and burning of homes, according to UN refugee agency.
Several settlements for internally-displaced families have been attacked with approximately 160,000 more displaced following a resurgence in activity by the brutal M23 rebel group in North Kivu.
Apart from the UN personnel who died during the violence, five civilians were reportedly killed in Goma, with around 50 others wounded, and seven died during demonstrations in Butembo.
“The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the families of the fallen peacekeepers, as well as to the Government and the people of India and of Morocco”, said a statement issued by Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq on Wednesday night in New York.
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