2 Tanzanian UN peace keepers killed in ambush attack

onnaedo

May 6, 2015 2:55 PM

The duo were peace keepers with the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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2 Tanzanian United Nations peace keepers have been killed in an ambush attack near the city of Beni.

The duo were peace keepers with the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Reports say13others were also wounded in the attack by suspected Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces Islamist rebels.

According to BBC, this was the second attack on UN forces in the eastern North Kivu region in 48 hours after a helicopter carrying the force's commander came under fire.

In response, the UN has promised a "robust" military offensive.

Yesterday, the Congolese army said it had killed 16 Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels during fierce fighting over the weekend.

Reacting to the attack on the UN peace troops, Martin Kobler, head of the UN mission Monusco tweeted:

"I won't tolerate any more of these repeated attacks against blue helmets in Beni territory, Monusco will carry out robust offensive operations,"

Also reacting, the spokesman for UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the killings and the "continuing atrocities perpetrated by the ADF against defenceless civilians in the Beni area".

The army launched an offensive against the ADF, one of many groups based in the mineral-rich east of DR Congo, after they were accused of hacking more than 200 villagers to death near Beni in a series of massacres late last year.

The ADF was formed in the late 1990s by a puritanical Muslim sect in the Ruwenzori mountains of western Uganda.

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