Thursday, October 12, 2017

DR Congo: Two UN ‘Blue Helmets’ Killed in Attack in North Kivu
Sake, North Kivu Province, DR Congo: MONUSCO Special Forces conducting a training in fast-roping for future aircraft operations. Photo: UN Photo/ MONUSCO

9 October 2017 – Two United Nations peacekeepers have been killed and several injured in an attack on their base in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a UN spokesperson said.

“The injured peacekeepers have been evacuated to Goma for medical assistance,” said spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric at the regular news briefing at UN Headquarters, in New York.

The attack was carried out this morning (local time) by suspected Allied Democratic Forces in Mamundioma, some 1,700 kilometres east of the capital, Kinshasa.

According to the UN Spokesperson, the Organization’s Stabilization Mission in the DRC (known by its French acronym, MONUSCO) has deployed attack helicopters as well as the Force Intervention Brigade in support of operations and to reinforce its presence.

It also deployed forces on the road between Kamango and Mbau to restore order and protect the populations of these towns.

Mamundioma was also the site of an attack on UN peacekeepers last month in which one UN peacekeeper from Tanzania was killed and another injured.


The African Union condemns the attack against MONUSCO base in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo

REPORT from African Union
Published on 11 Oct 2017

Addis Ababa, 10 October 2017. The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat, condemns the attacks carried out on 9 October 2017 by elements of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) against the base of the United Nations Mission for the Stabilization in the Congo (MONUSCO) in Mamundioma, in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which caused the death of two peacekeepers and injured several others from the Tanzanian contingent.

The Chairperson extends his deepest condolences to the families of deceased soldiers, as well as to the Government and people of the United Republic of Tanzania, and wishes speedy recovery to those wounded. He reiterates the AU’s support to MONUSCO in the discharge of its mandate, including the neutralization of the armed groups operating in the DRC.

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