15 people, including two Indian peacekeepers, have been killed and more than 50 people have been injured during a fierce demonstration in Congo.
According to information, three peacekeepers, including two Indian soldiers, were killed in local protests against UN peacekeeping forces in Butembo city of eastern Congo on Tuesday.
Butembo police chief Paul Ngoma said seven protesters were also killed in the violence. Protesters, who began demonstrations in Butembo on Monday, allege that Monusco (the United Nations peacekeeping force) has failed to act against armed extremist groups.
Expressing grief over the death of Indian peacekeepers, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said that he is "deeply saddened by the loss of lives of two brave Indian peacekeepers of BSF in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This is the second day of protests in the Congo's eastern city of Goma against the UN mission in the country, a government official said. Protesters torched UN mission offices in Goma on Monday and tried to forcibly enter. He accused peacekeeping forces of failing to protect civilians amid escalating violence in the Congo's eastern region. They have been asking UN forces in the Congo for years to leave the country.
Government spokesman Patrick Muayya in a tweet condemned the attacks on UN personnel and buildings, saying "at least 5 people were killed, nearly 50 were injured." The protesters have blamed them for the deaths of peace messengers. He attributed these deaths to bullets fired by peacekeepers.
A government spokesman did not say what caused the deaths. He described the bullets fired by security forces and peacekeepers as "warning firing". He said that the peacekeepers had fired "to disperse the demonstrators and to warn them to prevent any attacks on the Monusco base and installations. He directed to take all measures to restore the peace.He also reiterated that steps are already being taken to withdraw the peacekeeping force.
In June 2021 and June 2022, MONUSCO's peacekeeping mission closed its offices in the Congo's Kasai Central and Tanganyika regions. According to the United Nations, the mission includes more than 16,000 uniformed personnel in the Congo. Protests are taking place in this Central African country as fighting escalates between Congolese soldiers and M-23 rebels. This has forced around 200,000 people to flee their homes.