A United Nations peacekeeper has been killed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN and Congolese officials said on Saturday, in the latest violence to hit the conflict-torn region.
The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO, stated that suspected members of the Twirwaneho militia conducted the attack on Friday night in the Minembwe area of South Kivu province.
“A peacekeeper was killed by armed men who approached the base after having contacted MONUSCO for a surrender,” MONUSCO said.
“Attacks against peacekeepers may constitute a war crime,” it added, calling on Congolese authorities to hold the perpetrators responsible.
The Twirwaneho militia is one of over 120 armed groups in volatile eastern DRC. It claims to represent the interests of the Banyamulenge, a Congolese Tutsi community.
A Congolese army spokesman in the Minembwe area, Lieutenant Jeremie Meya, also said that Twirwaneho militiamen had killed the UN peacekeeper under the “ruse” of…
Source: Guardian Newspaper
