Peacekeepers killed in Congo

DOZENS HURT IN REBEL ASSAULT

In the deadliest single attack on a United Nations peacekeeping mission in recent memory, rebels in eastern Congo killed at least 14 peacekeepers and wounded 53 others in an assault on their base that was launched at nightfall and went on for hours.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed “outrage and utter heartbreak” and called the attack a war crime, urging Congolese authorities to swiftly investigate.

The peacekeepers killed were from Tanzania. At least five Congolese soldiers also were killed in the attack Thursday evening that has been blamed on one of the region’s deadliest rebel groups.

At least two peacekeepers remained missing, the UN said. More than 20 were evacuated for medical treatment in the regional capital, Goma.

It was not clear when military reinforcements arrived after the attack, the U.N. said. Conditions in the region are “very, very challenging,” said UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who said the attack followed a recent increase in activities by various armed groups. He called the assault a response to the UN mission’s own “increasingly robust posture.”

“We are disturbing them,” he said. “They do not like it.”

The peacekeeping base is about 45 kilometres (27 miles) from the town of Beni, which has been repeatedly attacked by the Allied Democratic Forces rebel group. The base is home to the UN mission’s rapid intervention force, which has a rare mandate to go on the offensive against armed groups in the vast, mineral-rich region.