At least one protester was killed in the eastern Congolese city of Beni on Tuesday when security forces fired bullets on demonstrators during protest against the United Nations’ MONUSCO peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), reported The Reuters.
There have been violent demonstrations against the UN mission since last two months that have killed dozens, including civilians, peacekeepers and Congolese police elsewhere in eastern Congo.
Beni police spokesperson Nasson Katembo said one motorcycle taxi driver was killed when shots broke out, without giving further details about who was responsible for the gunfire. He said that an investigation has been opened by the police to identify the perpetrators of these shootings.
MONUSCO said bullets were fired as a warning to disperse protesters throwing rocks at peacekeepers escorted by the Congolese army on their way back from a patrol.
The UN mission deplored the attack in a statement and said joint investigations with the authorities would provide more information on the circumstances that caused the death.
The MONUSCO peacekeeping troops have been accused of retaliating with force during the recent protests against them in the eastern cities of Butembo and Goma, which saw hundreds of protesters throw rocks and petrol bombs and set fire to U.N. buildings.
The protests have been spurred by complaints that the peacekeeping forces have failed to protect civilians against the hundred or so armed groups that have been spreading terror in the region for nearly 30 years. The mission has been deployed to the DRC for more than two decades and costs more than $1 billion per year.
At the end of July, violent demonstrations took place in several towns in eastern DRC, including Beni and Butembo, to demand the departure of the United Nations.
Thirty-two demonstrators and four peacekeepers were killed in one week, according to the Congolese authorities.
