UN base stormed in Congo-Kinshasa

UN base stormed in Congo Kinshasa

Published: Less than 30 min ago

full screen “Monusco leave without delay” reads one of the protesters’ placards. Photo: Moses Sawasawa/AP/TT

Hundreds of people blocked roads and shouted anti-UN slogans before storming the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping mission in Goma in eastern Congo-Kinshasa. The UN’s logistics center outside the city was also stormed.

The demonstrators demand that the UN peacekeeping force, Monusco, leave the country.

Monusco has been criticized locally for what is seen as a failure to stop the fighting in the country’s conflict-torn east.

Over 120 armed groups reside in the region, where massacres against civilians are common and millions of people have been forced to flee.

Before the storming, the youth union of the ruling party UDPS read out a statement demanding that Monusco leave the Congo. The same demand has also been voiced by the Speaker of the Congolese Senate.

The storm is condemned by the UN representative on the ground.

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