UN Chief Condemns Killing of Pakistani Peacekeeper in DRC

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the killing of a Pakistani peacekeeper working for the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, Mr. Ban's spokesman says the peacekeeper was killed during an attack by "unidentified assailants" on a U.N. military convoy in South Kivu province, in the country's east, bordering Rwanda and Burundi.

There were no details on the exact location or nature of the attack.

The U.N. mission, known as MONUSCO, is investigating.

Pakistan has more than 3,000 peacekeepers in the DRC, making it one of the largest contributors to a force that has 19,000 uniformed personnel.

The DRC has endured armed conflicts for more than two decades, including the latest eruption of violence in April 2012. The rebel group M23 captured several cities in November, demanding the government fully implement a 2009 peace deal designed to integrate rebels into the Congolese army.


The U.N. Security Council authorized a special intervention brigade in March to reinforce MONUSCO. The U.N. tasked the those troops, numbering about 3,000, with preventing the expansion of armed groups such as M23, as well as neutralizing and disarming them, in a bid to stabilize the eastern DRC.