Missing UN Peacekeepers Found 'safe And Sound' In DR Congo

Rukhshan Mir (@rukhshanmir) Published May 17, 2018 | 09:40 AM

Kinshasa, May 17(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2018 ) :The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Wednesday that two missing peacekeepers had been found "safe and sound" after their convoy came under attack in the country's restless east.

"The two peacekeepers missing since last Friday in the Tanganyika province are safe and sound," Florence Marchal, MONUSCO's spokeswoman, told AFP. "They are currently in a MONUSCO base in Nyunzu and will be transferred tomorrow to Kalemie," she added.

A convoy of 13 peacekeepers was attacked on Friday by the mai-mai, one of the many so-called self-defence groups operating in southeastern DRC where the attack took place.

The two peacekeepers from the Benin contingent were missing after the attack and MONUSCO launched a search mission.

MONUSCO is the UN's biggest peacekeeping force, with its deployment dating to 1999. Today, it comprises more than 16,000 troops, 660 military observers and more than 1,450 police. DRC's government wants the force to leave the country in 2020.

In December 15, 15 Tanzanian members of MONUSCO were killed in the northeastern region of Beni when their position was attacked by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel militia.