The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, has «strongly» condemned on Sunday the attack against a helicopter of the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) in the east of the country in which a ‘blue helmet’ has died and another has been wounded.
Guterres, who confirmed that the fatal victim is a South African national, as reported by the Congolese media, expressed «his deepest condolences to the family of the deceased ‘blue helmet’, to the Government and to the South African people».
He also recalled, along the same lines as the UN peacekeeping mission, that attacks against blue helmets «can constitute a war crime under international law».
Guterres’ spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said the secretary-general has «called on the Congolese authorities to investigate this heinous attack and to bring those responsible to justice quickly,» according to a statement.
He also reaffirmed his support for the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo «in its efforts to achieve peace and stability in the east of the country,» but did not provide information on who was responsible for the attack or what weapon was used.
MONUSCO reported hours earlier that a helicopter had been attacked after leaving the city of Beni, in the northeastern province of North Kivu, the epicenter of the armed violence ravaging the African country.
This attack took place a few hours after the end of the extraordinary summit held by the East African heads of state in Burkina Faso, in which they declared their intention to strengthen the peace process in North Kivu, scene for months of bloody fighting between the Congolese army and the March 23 Movement rebel group.
The meeting ended with the commitment to create new working instruments to guarantee the definitive cessation of hostilities that have confronted the Congolese government with neighboring Rwanda, accused of providing support to the M23, which the Kigali government has categorically rejected, while more than half a million people have been forced to abandon their homes due to the violence.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
