“Assailants violently snatched weapons from elements of the Congolese National Police and fired at point-blank range at our peacekeeping forces,” MONUSCO said in the statement published Tuesday on its official website.
“MONUSCO bows to the memory of these valiant soldiers who fell on the field of honor and wishes a good and speedy recovery to the injured peacekeeper,” the text added.
The mission “strongly condemns this attack which nothing justifies” and recalls that “its bases and installations are inviolable under the Status of Forces Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SOFA), as well as the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.
In this regard, the Mission recalls that “attacks against its personnel, installations and operations constitute war crimes that are subject to proceedings before international courts,” the same source stated.
“Several reports of casualties among the assailants are circulating. While recalling that the Mission has exercised restraint in dealing with the assailants and the violent assaults on its bases and personnel, MONUSCO is committed to cooperating with the competent authorities in any investigation that they may wish to conduct to establish the facts,” the statement added.
The text praised “the professionalism and control of the peacekeepers who have, at each of their interventions, avoided bloodshed. MONUSCO thanks the authorities, political actors and civil society for their support alongside MONUSCO at this difficult time and reiterates its message of calm and peace to the demonstrators”.
