UN to Investigate Deadly Anti-Peacekeeping Demonstrations in DRC

The acting head of the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo said on Wednesday, July 27, an investigation would be carried out into deadly anti-UN protests that have flared in eastern parts of the country. At least 20 people were killed and as many as 50 others injured in the protests in North Kivu province between July 25 and 27, according to a Congolese official and local media. Two UN police officers and a peacekeeper were among those killed, the peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, said in a statement. “This was clearly … a hostile act against our troops and as you know, this may be a war crime,” Khassim Diagne, acting head of MONUSCO, told reporters on Wednesday. Protests continued in the DRC’s east on Wednesday, with local media reporting a further four people had died from electrocution during a demonstration in Kavimvira. Footage by Justin Kabumba shows protesters demonstrating in Sake, a town in North Kivu some 24 kilometres northwest of Goma. Credit: Justin Kabumba via Storyful