Kinshasa: An Indian peacekeeper with the UN
mission in Democratic Republic of Congo was shot dead today
when armed men attacked government troops in the troubled
eastern Goma region, the MONUC force said.
According to a UN source, a Congolese soldier and a
civilian were also killed in the attack, while three troops
and a second civilian were injured.
"A Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) patrol was attacked by
armed men. A MONUC vehicle patrol that was in the area took up
position and was shot at by the assailants," MONUC spokesman
Madnodje Mounoubai said.
"An Indian soldier was wounded. He died after being
transferred by helicopter to Goma`s hospital."
The incident took place at around 1:00 pm on a road
crossing the Virunga national park, around 80 kilometres
north of Goma, the capital of DR Congo`s troubled Nord-Kivu
province.
The assailants` identity was unknown.
For more than a decade the volatile east of the DR Congo
has been the scene of attacks and fighting involving several
armed groups, including the FDLR Rwandan Hutu rebel group and
Mai-Mai tribal militias.
The Mai-Mai were recently integrated in the Congolese
army but control their own territory in neighbouring Sud-Kivu
province and are intent on overturning the military command in
the area.
The Congolese Army with logistical support from the UN
mission has conducted several military operations to try to
bring peace and stability to the east of the vast central
African country.
PTI
