Four blue helmets and 32 demonstrators were killed in a week of demonstrations against the United Nations mission in several towns in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo according to the provisional official report of the Congolese authorities sent to AFP on Tuesday.
These figures were given by a special government commission which established "
a heavy toll of 36 dead, distributed as follows: 13 dead in Goma, 13 dead in Butembo including 4 blue helmets, 4 dead in Uvira, 3 dead in Kanyabaonga and 3 dead in Kasindi
,” wrote Minister Patrick Muyaya, spokesperson for the Congolese government after a crisis meeting.
The initial death toll from the protests was at least nineteen.
"
In addition to this, there are nearly 170 counted wounded
", specified Mr. Muyaya, asserting that "
these serious and outrageous incidents undermined the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of Congo at the Kasindi border post
", at the border with Uganda.
Read alsoThe UN Secretary General “outraged” by the firing of peacekeepers in the DRC
On Sunday, “ Tanzanian
” blue helmets
“, according to Captain Antony Mualushayi, spokesman for the army in Beni, returning from leave in Uganda opened fire before opening the barrier and crossing the Congolese border at the border post of Kasindi, in Beni.
Two people were killed on the spot and 15 injured, one of whom succumbed to his injuries, bringing the toll to 3 dead and 14 injured.
Since July 25, demonstrators, who accuse the peacekeepers of ineffectiveness in their mission to neutralize the hundred local and foreign armed groups, have ransacked and looted the installations of the UN mission in the DRC (Monusco) in Goma and Butembo.
In a telephone conversation with Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, President Félix Tshisekedi recalled that the withdrawal of the March 23 Movement (M23), a rebellion supported by Rwanda,
is a necessary condition for the easing of tension
,” Muyaya said.
