Video of the incident showed men, at least one in police uniform and another in army uniform, advancing towards the immobilised UN convoy behind a closed barrier in Kasindi. The town is in eastern DR Congo’s Beni territory on the border with Uganda
A resident holds a placard reading ”MONUSCO get out without delay” as they protest against the United Nations peacekeeping force (MONUSCO) deployed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Goma, July 25, 2022. (AP)
New Delhi: Two people have been killed and several others injured after UN peacekeepers opened fire during an incident in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on the Uganda border on Sunday, the UN said.
Video of the incident, shared on social media showed men, at least one in police uniform and another in army uniform, advancing towards the immobilised UN convoy behind a closed barrier in Kasindi. The town is in eastern DR Congo’s Beni territory on the border with Uganda.
After a verbal exchange, the peacekeepers appeared to open fire before opening the gate, driving on and continuing to shoot while people scattered or hid.
“During this incident, soldiers from the intervention brigade of the MONUSCO force returning from leave opened fire at the border post for unexplained reasons and forced their way through,” the UN mission in Kasindi said in a statement. “This serious incident caused loss of life and serious injuries.”
Barthelemy Kambale Siva, the North Kivu governor’s representative in Kasindi, earlier said that “eight people, including two policemen who were working at the barrier, were seriously injured” in the incident.
Kambale Siva, interviewed by AFP, did not give a reason for why the UN convoy was prevented from crossing the barrier.
There are more than 120 militias operating in the DRC’s troubled east. The UN first deployed an observer mission to the region in 1999.
In 2010, it became the peacekeeping mission MONUSCO — the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — with a mandate to conduct offensive operations.
There have been 230 fatalities among them, according to the UN.
Two Indian peacekeepers were killed last week
Last week, deadly demonstrations demanding the departure of the United Nations took place in several towns in eastern DRC.
Two Indian Border Security Force personnel, who were part of the UN peacekeeping mission were among three peacekeepers killed as an angry mob attacked a UN base in Goma city.
Head Constable Shishupal Singh and HC Sanwala Ram Vishnoi lost their lives in the violence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged UN chief Antonio Guterres for quick investigations to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Anti-UN unrest in DR Congo
Anger has been fuelled by perceptions that MONUSCO is failing to do enough to stop attacks by the armed groups.
UN under-secretary-general for peace operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix was in the central African country on Saturday to “talk to the Congolese authorities”, Kambale Siva said.
“(They would) examine ways in which we can both avoid a recurrence of these tragic incidents and, above all, work better together to achieve our objectives,” he added.
“We hope that the conditions will be met, in particular the return of state authority, so that MONUSCO can complete its mission as soon as possible. And to leave room for other forms of international support.”
With inputs from AFP
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