In Summary
For now we can only confirm the death...we will
release more details, including the matter of burial arrangements, after
the arrival of the body.
Dar es Salaam. A Tanzania People’s Defence
Forces (TPDF) officer was killed in a grenade attack in eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday.
A TPDF statement identified the officer as Major Khatibu Mshindo, who was with the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC.
Several soldiers were injured in the attack.
The statement said Major Mshindo and other soldiers were at their base when a grenade was lobbed at them by unknown assailants.
The TPDF statement did not give the number of peacekeepers injured in the attack.
However, the international media said three Tanzania soldiers and two South African were wounded.
“A Tanzanian officer was killed, three other
Tanzanian soldiers were wounded along with two South Africans,” the
mission’s spokesperson Madnodje Mounoubai was quoted saying.
TPDF spokesman Major Erick Komba told The Citizen
that they were liaising with the UN to determine when the fallen
soldier’s body be brought home.
“For now we can only confirm the death...we will
release more details, including the matter of burial arrangements, after
the arrival of the body,” he said.
Tanzanian, South African and Malawian troops have
been deployed as part of the Force Intervention Brigade, which has a UN
mandate to engage in direct fighting against the M23 militia who have
been destabilising the east of the DRC.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned the attack.
“The Secretary-General deplores in the strongest
terms the killing and wounding of UN peacekeepers,” said a statement
issued on Wednesday night by Ban’s spokesperson.
The statement also said the UN chief sent his condolences to the
family of deceased and the government of the United Republic of
Tanzania and wished the wounded soldiers a speedy recovery.
“The UN remains committed to taking all necessary
actions in line with Security Council Resolution 2098 (2013) to protect
civilians in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo,” said the
statement.
The DRC armed forces and the peacekeeping force
launched an attack against M23 positions on the Kibati heights, north of
Goma, in North Kivu, said a UN spokesperson.
The Mission has delivered mortar and artillery
fire and engaged its attack helicopters, with the DRC armed forces using
helicopters, battle tanks and ground forces.
The operation is still ongoing, according to the spokesperson.
Major Mshindo becomes the eighth TPDF soldier to be killed while on a peacekeeping mission.
In July, seven Tanzania soldiers, who were part of
the UN-Africa Mission in Darfur (Unamid), were killed after gunmen
ambushed their convoy.
Their 17 colleagues were seriously wounded in the
incident described as the deadliest ever single attack on the
international force in Sudan.
source: The citizen
source: The citizen
