The Security Council has condemned the attack on the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) which resulted in the death of a Malawian peacekeeper.
The attack happened on Monday near Beni (North Kivu) and led to the killing of Lance Corporal Chitenji Kamanga aged 28.
In a statement yesterday, the members of the Security Council expressed their deepest condolences to the family of the victim, the Malawian authorities and the United Nations.
“They underlined that deliberate attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law. The members of the Security Council called on the Congolese authorities to swiftly investigate this attack and bring the perpetrators to justice,” reads part of the statement released by the UN yesterday.
The members of the Security Council in the statement stressed the importance of MONUSCO having the necessary capacities to fulfil its mandate and promote the safety and security of the United Nations peacekeepers, pursuant to relevant Security Council resolutions.
The Security Council also reiterated their full support for the stabilising action of MONUSCO and its contingents and expressed their deep appreciation to MONUSCO’s troop- and police-contributing countries.
Reuters reported that the attack was carried out by fighters with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) which has been active in Congo since the 1990s.
In 2018, six Malawian peacekeepers were also killed in the DRC.
The last peacekeeper killed in Congo was an Indonesian national on June 22 last year. More than 370 have been killed since the UN first sent troops during the civil war in 1999.
