Pakistani peacekeeper killed in DR Congo

kinshasa — A Pakistani UN peacekeeper was killed by “members of an armed group” in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, a United Nations spokesman said.

An Inter-Services Public Relations statement on Sunday said the incident happened when a Pakistani peacekeeping convoy was ambushed by armed rebels near Lulimba, 96km southwest of Baraka, South Kivu province.

During an exchange of fire, Naik Naeem Raza embraced martyrdom, while sepoy Bilal received injuries.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “condemns the killing of a peacekeeper from Pakistan... following an ambush” in the troubled eastern province of South Kivu, a UN spokesman said.

He reaffirmed the UN’s willingness to continue to address the country’s security challenges, despite tensions with the government. Pakistani soldiers are currently working as part of un peace force

On Friday Congolese President Joseph Kabila claimed the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the country MONUSCO had “eradicated” no armed group in nearly 20 years.

He warned the mission not to consider the country “under the care of the UN” and said he would “clarify in the coming days our relations” with the world body.

DR Congo is in the grip of overlapping political and ethnic crises, and much of the country’s east is in the hands of rival militia groups competing over resources. — AFP, APP