Annan condemns killing of eight UN peacekeepers in DR of Congo
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the killing today of eight Guatemalan peacekeepers serving with
the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) and the wounding of five others as they sought Ugandan
rebels who had displaced thousands of local civilians from a park.
Mr. Annan also expressed deep condolences to the Government of Guatemala, the families of the deceased soldiers and all
the other victims.
The peacekeeping troops had been engaged in reconnaissance operations for the past 10 days against suspected elements of
the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), reported to be present in the Garamba National Park in the Haut Uélé
district in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), about 70 kilometres from the border with Sudan.
During a four-hour firefight, peacekeepers from MONUC’s Nepalese contingent were airlifted by helicopter to the scene of
the fighting where they conducted a cordon and search operation.
The five wounded peacekeepers were evacuated to a UN Mission hospital in Bunia, the capital of the Ituri district, also
in the country’s north-east.
In a separate development, Indian peacekeepers on reconnaissance and heading to the city of Rawindi in the North Kivus
came under fire from armed insurgents. They returned fire in self-defence and, in the firefight that followed, four of
the rebels were killed and three were captured.
The peacekeepers captured 20 weapons, as well as ammunition and communications equipment.
They had gone to the area following armed confrontations between soldiers now serving in the DRC’s national army and
former soldiers who had refused to take part in the new army integration process.
MONUC said it was sending in a humanitarian team to assess the needs of thousands of people who were displaced by the
fighting.