GOMA: A United Nations peacekeeping convoy was attacked in eastern Demo­cratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday evening, leaving two people injured, the UN mission said on Wednesday.

The convoy was attacked when it stopped at an army checkpoint near an internally displaced persons site in Kanyarutshinya, 8km from the city of Goma.

A crowd assembled and threw stones at the convoy, setting fire to at least one truck, the UN mission, MONUSCO, said on Twitter. UN peacekeepers fired war­ning shots into the air and finally left the zone, it said.

Frustration has grown in the region this year with the UN mission, which civilians accuse of failing to protect them from worsening militia violence. Dozens were killed in anti-UN protests in July.

Fighting resumed betw­een the M23 rebel group and the Congolese army on Oct 20, causing at least 90,000 people to flee their homes since. The UN and the African Union have urged a de-escalation and immediate end to the hostilities.

“Our wish is that MONUSCO leaves our country. Because we don’t see why they are here,” said Jackson Fiki Kalimunda, 29, who fled from his home to Kanyarutshinya because of the conflict.

Earlier on Tuesday, the UN announced a “strategic and tactical” withdrawal of 450 peacekeepers from Rumangabo.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2022