UN Condemns Attack on Indonesian Peacekeepers in Congo

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United Nation's Security Council condemns an attack by rebel militia against Indonesian peacekeepers serving with the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) carried out the attack in eastern DRC took place Monday, near the town of Beni, when a MONUSCO patrol came under fire.

The attack killed one Indonesian peacekeeper, Serma Rama Wahyudi, and injured another.  

UN News reported on June 25 that the head of MONUSCO UN Special Representative, Leila Zerrougui, condemned the suspected ADF attack in a series of tweets, noting that the soldiers had been guarding a bridge construction project in the Hululu area

Leila stressed the "sacrifice of male and female ‘blue helmets’ who risk their lives daily away from home, to protect civilians and restore stability to DRC."

The ADF group originated in neighboring Uganda in the 1990s as an opposition to Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni. The group then moved its base of operations across the border into the DRC.

The group had killed 15 UN troops at their base near the Ugandan border in December 2017, 14 from Tanzania, and seven in an ambush in December the following year.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased peacekeeper, as well as to the Indonesian Government, and wished a swift recovery to the injured blue helmet. He reminded that attacks against UN peacekeepers may constitute a war crime, and demand the Congolese government to investigate and bring those responsible to court.

EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA