GUTERRES: ATTACK ON U.N. TROOPS HEINOUS
Outrage over 15 peacekeepers killed in deadly ambush by Ugandan rebels
GOMA personnel wounded.
UN chief Antonio Guterres led an outpouring of outrage over the deadly ambush, calling it a “heinous” act.
“I condemn this attack unequivocally. These deliberate attacks against UN peacekeepers are unacceptable and constitute a war crime,” he said.
Heather Nauert, spokesman for the United States State Department, said Washington was “appalled by the horrific act”.
Tanzanian President John Magufuli said he was “shocked” and “saddened” by the deaths of “brave soldiers and heroes who lost their lives accomplishing their peace mission in our neighbour the DRC”.
The attack is the worst loss of life to a UN peacekeeping force since 1993 when 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in Somalia during clashes with a local warlord.
DR Congo’s huge eastern region has long been wracked by violence, but fighting between government soldiers and militia groups, as well as inter-ethnic clashes, had increased significantly this year.
North Kivu province, which borders Uganda and Rwanda, had seen a particular uptick in killings and kidnappings.
The UN in October declared a level three emergency in DR Congo — a status afforded to conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
MONUSCO, the UN’s peacekeeping force in DR Congo, said its operating base in Semuliki, North Kivu, was attacked by “suspected ADF elements”.
The Allied Democratic Forces is a shadowy rebel group dominated by hardline Ugandan Muslims, and one of several armed groups active in the North Kivu region. AFP