Ban Deplores Attack On UN Helicopter In DR Congo
Ban Deplores Attack On UN Helicopter In DR Congo
New York,
Nov 27 2009 8:10PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has
condemned the shooting attack on a United Nations helicopter
on Thursday in Dongo in western Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) that left three peacekeepers, a civilian pilot
and one member of the Congolese national police
wounded.
Personnel with the UN Mission in DRC, known as http://monuc.unmissions.org/MONUC, have been tasked with assisting the Government to protect civilians affected by the violent clashes in the village of Dongo in Equateur province that have displaced tens of thousands of civilians, and left scores of villagers and policemen dead since late October.
"The Secretary-General calls on the Government
of the DRC to ensure that the perpetrators of the attack
against MONUC are held accountable," his spokesperson said
in a
Mr.
Ban also encouraged the Government to take steps to
peacefully re The
fighting, thought to be over disputes based on farming and
fishing rights in Dongo, have not only displaced an
estimated 14,000 people inside DRC, but have also sent over
38,000 people fleeing into neighbouring Republic of
Congo. ends
solve the issues underlying these clashes,
and pledged MONUC's assistance in this regard.