29 08 13 UN News Center: Eastern DR Congo: UN peacekeeper killed in clash with armed groups near Goma

According to a UN
spokesperson, M23 has been using these positions to shell populated areas. The
objective of the MONUSCO-supported operation is to remove the threat against
Goma.

The Mission has delivered mortar and artillery
fire and engaged its attack helicopters, with the FARDC has used attack
helicopters, battle tanks and ground forces. The operation is still ongoing,
according to the spokesperson, who added that one UN peacekeeper has been
killed and seven others have been wounded.

“I am outraged by today’s killing of a United
Nations Peacekeeper from Tanzania
by the M23,” Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and
head of MONUSCO, said in a statement.

“He sacrificed his life to protect civilians in
Goma. My thoughts go to his family and all members of his unit in this very
difficult moment,” added Mr. Kobler, who visited the area of this most recent
fighting earlier this week.

In Goma, Mr. Kobler met
with provincial administrative and security authorities, as well as UN military
and civilian staff, to assess the situation on the ground. During his meetings,
he also made clear his determination to see the UN Mission resolve the issue of
armed groups, help restore State authority and fulfil its mandate.

Over the past year, the
M23, along with other armed groups, have clashed repeatedly with the FARDC. The
rebels briefly occupied Goma in November 2012. The fighting resumed in recent
weeks, this time dragging in a group of Ugandan-based rebels, and displaced
more than 100,000 people, exacerbating the region's ongoing humanitarian
crisis, which includes 2.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and 6.4
million in need of food and emergency aid.

On 28 March this year the
Security Council authorized the establishment of the intervention brigade to
carry out targeted offensive operations, with or without the FARDC, against
armed groups that threaten peace in eastern DRC. At the same time the Security
Council called on the M23 to cease immediately all forms of violence and
destabilizing activities and for its members to immediately and permanently
disband and lay down their arms.

The strengthening of the
MONUSCO mandate with the intervention brigade is designed to further support
the political objectives of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for
the DRC and the region – a peace deal signed in February in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.