Worst attack on Congo’s UN base kills 15 Blue Helmets and 5 soldiers

Kinshasa, December 9: At least 15 UN Peacekeepers were killed in attack on United Nations personnel of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Thursday. Along with these 5 Congolese soldiers also died in the attack.

The UN said that at least 53 peacekeepers were also injured in the attack in North Kivu on Thursday night. Details have emerged of a well-coordinated and complex operation launched at dusk. The attackers, armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, destroyed two armoured personnel carriers, an ambulance and a truck before withdrawing

"I condemn this attack unequivocally," Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general, said in a statement."These deliberate attacks against UN peacekeepers are unacceptable and constitute a war crime” he added.

"I call on the DRC authorities to investigate this incident and swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice. There must be no impunity for such assaults, here or elsewhere" he said.

 

In his remarks, he also said that the attack is another indication of the challenges faced by UN peacekeeping operations around the world and acknowledged the sacrifices made by troop contributing countries in the service of global peace.

The UN mission in DRC said on Friday it was coordinating medical evacuations from the base, situated near a bridge on the river Semuliki, 25 miles (40km) north-east of the town of Beni.

The attack on the base has been blamed by the UN on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a local group that adheres to a rigorous Islamist vision and has a history of violence.