UN Security Council condemns killing of experts in Congo

UNITED NATIONS: UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned the killing of two UN experts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

“Members of the Security Councilcondemnedinthestrongest terms the killing of two UN experts from the Group of Experts who were monitoring the sanctions regime in the Kasai Central region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and expressed concern over the unknown status of the four Congolese nationals accompanying them,” the UN Security Council said in a statement.

They “expressed their deepest sympathy” to the families of the victims, the governments of the United States, Chile and Sweden, as well as to the Group of Experts on the DRC and the UN Secretariat, it added.

They also urged the Congolese authorities to “continue the search for the four missing Congolese nationals” and called upon the government of the DRC to swiftly and fully investigate these crimes and bring the still unidentified perpetrators to justice.

The security council said they encouraged a UN inquiry into the matter, as per the statement by the secretary-general on Tuesday, and encouraged cooperation from the DRC government in this regard.

UN Secretary- General Antonio Guterres said in a statement on Tuesday that the world body would do everything possible to ensure that justice is done.

The bodies of two members of a UN group of experts who went missing since March 12 were discovered by peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( Monusco) on Monday outside the city of Kananga, the United Nations announced. — Bernama