Shooting against a UN helicopter in the DRC: one dead and one seriously injured


Soldiers from the East African Regional Force (EACRF) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on January 6, 2023. GUERCHOM NDEBO / AFP

A South African peacekeeper was killed and another seriously injured on Sunday (February 5th) when their helicopter was fired upon in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN spokesman told AFP.

The aircraft came under fire around 3:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. French time) during a flight to Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, where it finally managed to land. According to Amadou Ba, one of the spokespersons for the United Nations Mission in the DRC (Monusco), the origin of the shots is not yet known and their precise location remains to be determined.

In a press release published on Sunday evening, Bintou Keita, the head of Monusco, “strongly condemns this cowardly attack on an aircraft carrying the United Nations emblem» and recalls that «attacks on peacekeepers may constitute a war crime“.

M23 Tutsi rebellion

On March 29, 2022, eight peacekeepers (six Pakistanis, one Russian, one Serb) were killed in the crash of their helicopter above a combat zone between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels. Since November 2021, the mostly Tutsi M23 rebellion has taken over territories north of Goma. The DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting it, which is corroborated by UN experts and Western countries, but Kigali denies this.

These shootings at a UN helicopter come the day after a meeting in Burundi between several East African heads of state, including the Congolese and Rwandan presidents, between whom relations have been terrible in recent months. This summit concluded with a call toimmediate ceasefire by all partiesand a withdrawal of all armed groups,including foreignersin eastern DRC.



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