3 UN staffers injured in eastern DR Congo attack

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Three staff members of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) were wounded in an attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the global body said on Thursday.

Unidentified attackers opened fire on a UN convoy in DR Congo’s eastern North Kivu province on Wednesday, according to a UNHCR statement.

“The convoy was being escorted by the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO). Bullets struck a vehicle of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and three staff members were wounded,” read the statement.

The injured UN staff members were given emergency medical assistance at the scene before being transported to hospital where they are receiving treatment.

“The injured personnel were traveling in a clearly marked UNHCR vehicle. The team was returning to the city of Beni from the town of Kirumba, in south Lubero territory, after distributing aid to people already displaced from their homes by violence and to vulnerable families from the host community,” the statement said.

The UNHCR said it is “shocked and outraged by the attack,” urging the DR Congo government “to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice immediately.”

DR Congo ramped up security operations and declared a “state of siege” in the restive provinces of Ituri and North Kivu this May.

However, a September report by the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies said the measures have “apparently had little impact” as “ruthless” armed groups “continue to massacre civilians.”

A report released by two Congolese lawmakers in November said more than 1,300 people have been killed in Ituri and North Kivu since May.

Kivu Security Monitor, a watchdog focused on violence in eastern DR Congo, placed the figure close to 1,140 in a separate report in November.​​​​​​​