Hello InformationWar platform! Today let's talk about happenings around the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the activities of rebel and terrorist groups.
The United Nations Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the code name MONUSCO have been in the country since 2010 and have faced several attacks from different terrorist groups leading to the death of several peacekeepers sent to support the DRC government.
A United Nations peacekeeper has been killed in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) when a helicopter operated by the peacekeeping force came under fire midair on Sunday, the UN mission called MONUSCO said.
The helicopter was able to land in the provincial capital, Goma. It was attacked after taking off from the city of Beni in the early afternoon.
Fighting in the eastern DRC, which involves more than 120 armed groups, has simmered for years but spiked in late 2021 with the resurgence of the M23, which had been largely dormant for nearly a decade. The rebels have captured swaths of land and are accused by the United Nations and rights groups of committing atrocities against civilians.
It has been a very difficult senario to keep with these rebel groups made the UN to resort in the peacekeeping mission that have lasted for about 13 years now. DR Congo have also accused Rwanda for backing the rebel groups and making her territory a safe haven for the rebel to attack from.
Apart from the peacekeeper the was killed during the airstrike, another peacekeeper was severely wounded and the Kinshasa authorities have pointed towards the direction of the M23 Rebel group as the attackers of the aircraft. This is because the M23 Rebel group have been attacking the Congolese army for many and most recently. M23 spokesperson Willy Ngoma denied it and told Reuters news agency it was not over M23 territory.
Since 2010, the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission have deployed about 18,200 personnel to the DR Congo in collaboration with the Congolese army and it should be noted that 8 peacekeepers were killed last year when their helicopter crashed in North Kivu province, where the Congolese army was fighting the M23 rebel group.
The Sunday incident came just a day after the East African commumity met in Burundi's capital Bujimbura to affirm her support in ending the DR Congo conflict while asking the conflicting parties to de-escalate the tension.
Lastly, the authorities said that the incident is under investigation and nothing have been discovered about the ammunitions used in firing the aircraft and neither have the shooter caught. They assured everyone that investigation is ongoing to bring to book the perpetrators of the attack.