Two suspects arrested for ambushing Pakistani peacekeeper in DR Congo: Officials

The attack was staged in South Kivu province on a UN mission military convoy involving at least 10 attackers.

BUKAVU: Two people suspected of being involved in an ambush on a United Nations convoy, in which a Pakistani peacekeeper was killed in the strife-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, were arrested on Wednesday just as Pakistan called for a swift probe in to the matter.

"Two people suspected of the attack against a United Nations convoy have just been arrested in Walungu," said Augustin Kazadi, a local administrator of the eastern town.

The information was confirmed by the governor of the South Kivu province, Marcellin Cishambo, who said that traditional chiefs from the region where the attack took place were assisting police.

A spokesperson for the peacekeeping, or blue-helmet, force in DR Congo, officially known as MONUSCO, said the two final vehicles in the convoy were attacked by about ten men.

"These armed persons tried to take hostage a blue-helmet and in an exchange of fire which followed, three peacekeepers were injured and one of them succumbed to his wounds," said Alao Billiaminou, adding that the two others were not seriously injured.

UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky said the organisation's leader Ban Ki-moon was "appalled" by the latest attack on UN peacekeepers and an investigation had started.

Various armed groups operate in South Kivu but it is not a stronghold of the M23 rebel group, which launched an offensive against DR Congo government forces and UN peacekeepers in North Kivu province late last year.

Ban condemned "in the strongest terms" the killing of the Pakistani peacekeeper, his spokesman said.

The killing of peacekeepers is "a war crime that falls under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court," he added.

The UN leader "offers his sincerest condolences and sympathy to the family of the victim, and to the government of Pakistan."

Ban called on the DR Congo government to "bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice," Nesirky added.

Pakistan is a key contributor to MONUSCO, which is one of the biggest UN peacekeeping forces in the world with more than 17,750 troops and military observers and 1,400 police.

The UN Security Council voted in March to create an additional intervention brigade of more than 2,500 troops in eastern DR Congo to take on armed groups such as M23.

The special force, the first to be given an offensive mandate, is expected to start deploying in coming weeks and will be made up of troops from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania.

Pakistan wants swift probe of incident

Pakistan on Wednesday called for an immediate investigation of the targeted attack on the UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo that resulted in the death of a Pakistani junior commissioned officer.

"This attack should be swiftly investigated and perpetrators brought to justice," Ambassador Masood Khan told the Security Council, which earlier condemned in "the strongest terms" the attack and attempted hostage taking by "unidentified assailants" against a MONUSCO (United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo) military convoy moving in South Kivu.

"We look forward to the results of the investigations of this attack as well as follow up action by the Group of Experts on DRC for possible designation of individual and entities responsible for this attack under the sanctions regime in line with the resolution 2078(2012)," the Pakistani envoy said.

"Such incidents", he added, "do not deter our resolve to implement MONUSCO's mandate. Pakistan remains fully committed to the goals of peace and stability in the Eastern DRC and the wider region and its peacekeepers will continue to take all measures to protect civilians in their area of responsibility as well as to ensure safety and security of all MONUSCO peacekeepers and installations by all means".