UN Peacekeeper Shot Dead in eastern DRC

{{Unidentified gunmen have killed a Pakistani peacekeeper in an ambush on a United Nations convoy in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a spokesman for the U.N. mission has said.}}

The attack took place on Tuesday evening in the province of South Kivu and comes as the U.N. reinforces its mission with an aggressive force tasked with defeating rebels at the heart of two decades of conflict.

“We’re trying to piece it together, it happened between Walungu and Bukavu,” said Madnodje Mounoubai, spokesman for the U.N.’s 17,000-strong mission, referring to towns south of Bukavu, the province capital.

The U.N. is preparing to deploy its first “intervention brigade” – 3,000 soldiers charged with carrying out targeted offensive action rather than just protecting civilians or themselves.

{wirestory}