Highlights: Eastern DRC: a Monusco convoy attacked near Butembo. En route to Beni as part of troop rotation operations, a MONUSCO convoy was the target of an attack perpetrated by unidentified young people. The UN mission condemned the facts and announced that it was initiating an in-depth investigation in order to unravel the circumstances of this event, which is not an isolated case. The relationship between young people in this region and MONUSco remains tense. The mission is regularly criticized for its supposed inaction in the face of the upsurge in violence.

En route to Beni as part of troop rotation operations, a MONUSCO convoy was the target of an attack perpetrated by unidentified young people, in Butembo, North Kivu. The mission…

Eastern DRC: a Monusco convoy attacked near Butembo

En route to Beni as part of troop rotation operations, a MONUSCO convoy was the target of an attack perpetrated by unidentified young people, in Butembo, North Kivu. The UN mission condemned the facts and announced that it was initiating an in-depth investigation in order to unravel the circumstances of this event, which is not an isolated case.

Blue helmet of MONUSCO, the UN force in the Democratic Republic of Congo, deployed north of Goma, January 28, 2022. AP - Moses Sawasawa

By: RFI Follow

With our correspondent in Kinshasa,

Patient Ligodi

South African troops in the UN mission were targeted by youths mainly armed with stones and other improvised objects. They managed to set fire to a vehicle. But despite this, the convoy continued on its way and reached Beni, in eastern DRC

on the morning of March 29, dragging the charred truck behind it.

Faced with these hostile youth,

the peacekeepers

responded by throwing stun grenades, while the Congolese army intervened to disperse the furious demonstrators. The assault did not cause any casualties among the peacekeepers, but witnesses reported one death among the local population following an injury.

MONUSCO targeted from all sides

The relationship between young people in this region and MONUSCO remains tense. The UN mission is regularly criticized for its supposed inaction in the face of the upsurge in violence. In July 2022, MONUSCO had already faced violent demonstrations, which forced the peacekeepers to withdraw from Butembo. In recent days, she has denounced a series of targeted attacks, including armed assaults.

Further south, near Goma, the peacekeepers engaged in Operation Springbok and stationed in defensive positions regularly come under direct and indirect fire from various groups, including the

M23.

Two weeks ago, the escalation of violence resulted in M23 mortar fire on MONUSCO bases near Sake. Eight peacekeepers were seriously injured.

Read also Before the Security Council, the head of MONUSCO sounds the alarm on the situation in eastern DRC

Eastern DRC: a Monusco convoy attacked near Butembo

Eastern DRC: a Monusco convoy attacked near Butembo

MONUSCO targeted from all sides

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