UN chief outraged after peacekeepers shot dead two people at Uganda, DR Congo border

New York [US], August 1 (ANI): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed dismay over an incident that took place on Sunday morning when UN peacekeepers opened fire and killed two people on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda.
"Antonio Guterres is outraged by a serious incident that took place this morning in Kasindi, on the border of DR Congo and Uganda, in which @MONUSCO military personnel opened fire while returning to the DRC from leave in their home country," UN Spokesperson to the Secretary-General tweeted.
The UN force, MONUSCO, admitted that some of its peacekeepers had opened fire "for unexplained reasons," and said that the arrests had been made.
The head of the MONUSCO, Bitou Keita expressed dismay over the incident and confirmed, "The perpetrators of the shooting have been identified and arrested after the findings of the investigation."
Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Farhan Haq said, "The Secretary-General is both saddened and dismayed by the loss of life and serious injuries sustained during this incident."
"He expresses his deepest condolences to the affected families, the people of the DRC and the Congolese government, and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured," the statement added.
The Secretary-General stressed in the strongest terms the need to establish accountability for these events.
"He welcomes the decision of his special representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to detain the MONUSCO personnel involved in the incident and to immediately open an investigation," the statement added.
As per a UN News report, military personnel of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) opened fire in Kasindi, North Kivu province while returning from leave in their home country.
A video of the incident, shared on social media showed men, at least one in police uniform and another in army uniform, advancing toward the U.N. convoy stopped behind a closed barrier in Kasindi.
After a verbal exchange, the peacekeepers appeared to open fire before opening the barrier and driving through while people scattered or hid.
News reports said that the UN peacekeepers killed two people and injured several others.
"During this incident, soldiers from the intervention brigade of the MONUSCO force returning from leave opened fire at the border post for unexplained reasons and forced their way through," the U.N. mission in Kasindi said in a statement earlier Sunday.
"This serious incident caused loss of life and serious injuries," it said.
Soon after the incident on Sunday, the government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in a statement that the Democratic Republic of Congo "strongly condemns and deplores this unfortunate incident in which two compatriots died and 15 others were injured according to a provisional roll."
The government said it launched an investigation with MONUSCO to establish who was responsible, and why the shooting took place and would ensure "severe penalties" are given.
Barthelemy Kambale Siva, the North Kivu governor's representative in Kasindi, earlier said that "eight people, including two policemen who were working at the barrier, were seriously injured" in the incident. (ANI)