Six Pakistanis, one Russian and one Serbian peacekeeper were killed when their helicopter crashed during a reconnaissance mission in an area affected by recent fighting.
Eight people were killed when a helicopter operated by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) crashed in the country’s restive east, in an area where fighting between rebels and the Congolese army has been taking place this week.
The mission, known as MONUSCO, on Tuesday did not specify the cause of the crash in North Kivu province and said an investigation was ongoing.
There were eight people on board the Puma helicopter, including six crew members – all from the Pakistani military – and two military personnel – one from Russia and one from Serbia. Their bodies were recovered during a search and rescue operation by MONUSCO.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his “deep sense of shock and sadness,” his office said, praising the country’s armed forces’ global peace efforts.
According to MONUSCO, the helicopter was on a reconnaissance mission when it crashed in the Tshanzu area, the scene of recent clashes between the M23 rebel group and Congolese soldiers.
The DRC army said the helicopter was shot down by the M23 rebels. But the group denied this, instead claiming that the Congolese military was responsible for the crash.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern “at the resurgence of M23 activities in the Rwanda-DRC-Uganda triangle, as well as the continued impact of violence by armed groups on civilians,” said his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The M23 group was driven out of the DRC and chased into neighboring Uganda and Rwanda after a series of attacks in 2012 and 2013. Its fighters have since returned to wage attacks, including one in November in the same part of eastern DRC.
Heavy fighting began late Sunday this week when the M23 attacked two Congolese Army positions. The rebels had moved into the town of Kabindi on Tuesday and were approaching the region’s local administrative headquarters, the town of Rutshuru, according to a civil society coordinator.
“If these enemies succeed in driving out our forces, the center of Rutshuru will fall,” Jean Damascene Baziyaka told reporters.
According to the Ugandan Red Cross, around 6,000 civilians have fled to neighboring Uganda to escape attacks by the M23 rebels.
Uganda’s army has also joined the fight and said it killed 14 fighters from the group near the DRC border on Tuesday.
“Tonight they have [M23] attacked us, they shelled the Ugandan side and some civilian houses were destroyed. Our forces responded and 14 rebels were killed, seven became prisoners of war,” said Ugandan military spokesman Brigadier Felix Kulayigye, adding that one of his soldiers also died in the fighting.
In recent years there have been regional efforts to demobilize the M23, but their leaders have complained about the slow implementation of a peace deal and accused the Congolese army of waging war against them.
M23 spokesman Willy Ngoma said Tuesday the group was only fighting to defend itself.