Members of the United Nations mission and UN Deputy Secretary General Jean-Pierre Lacroix paid tribute on Monday August 1 in Goma - in the absence of the Congolese authorities - to five peacekeepers killed in a week in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, noted an AFP team.
A Moroccan peacekeeper was killed on Tuesday in Butembo during violent anti-Monusco demonstrations.
In the same circumstances, two UN police officers of Indian nationality were also killed.
On the side of the demonstrators, there were nine deaths according to hospital sources.
The next day, Commander Mouhamed Rami, of Moroccan nationality, died “
accidentally
”, declared Bintou Keita, the head of Monusco in Goma where tributes were paid to peacekeepers.
A fifth peacekeeper, Moroccan Abdelaziz El Maskyni, was killed in the town of Bunagana in Rutshuru territory where peacekeepers support the DRC Armed Forces in operations against the March 23 Movement, a rebellion supported by Rwanda , according to the Congolese authorities.
Read alsoThe UN Secretary General “outraged” by the firing of peacekeepers in the DRC
“We have to be careful”
During this ceremony of tribute to the Blue Helmets, the Indian, Moroccan, UN and Congolese flags floated side by side, but no Congolese official was present.
“
We need to be attentive to the sometimes completely unfounded reasons that motivate this hostility (towards the Blue Helmets) to learn all the lessons and work together with the Congolese authorities to make the necessary improvements
,” said Bintou Keita.
"
The best service we can render to all those who have lost their lives is to redouble our efforts and do so in such a way that these episodes of violence do not happen again
", urged Jean-Pierre Lacroix, head of the UN peace department.
One of the largest and costliest UN missions in the world, MONUSCO has been present in the DRC since 1999. It currently has more than 14,000 peacekeepers, with an annual budget of one billion dollars.
Since 2019, it has faced growing hostility from populations who accuse it of ineffectiveness in its mission to neutralize the hundred local and foreign armed groups active in eastern DRC.
For seven days, the death toll of the demonstrations against Monusco has been 18 dead on the side of the demonstrators and For seven days, 18 demonstrators have been killed during the protests against Monusco.
