Kinshasa: 15 people, including 3 personnel, were killed in a clash between the United Nations peacekeeping force and protesters in the Central African country of Congo.
According to the international news agency, there were violent demonstrations outside the headquarters of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Kivu province of the Congo. The protesters also ransacked the headquarters of the United Nations peacekeeping mission and one of its logistics bases, on which the UN peacekeeping forces opened fire on the protesters.
Protesters also attacked officials with rods, sticks and pelted stones. In this riot, 12 protestors and 3 personnel of the peacekeeping force were killed while many others were injured. Out of the 3 personnel killed, 2 belonged to the Indian Border Force while one belonged to Morocco.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the incident, calling the attack on the peacekeeping force a war crime and called on the Congolese government to take action against those responsible for the violence. The United Nations itself will investigate the incident.
The protesters were protesting that UN peacekeeping forces have so far failed to reach an agreement with the armed groups and have so far failed to bring peace to the region.
It should be noted that more than 18,000 personnel of the United Nations peacekeeping force have been deployed for the last 4 years in Congo for the responsibility of suppressing armed groups and holding elections during the political crisis.