One child died and at least 32 Indian peacekeepers were injured in an explosion targeting the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Goma city on Tuesday, a United Nations mission official told Reuters. The peacekeepers were on their morning run in Keyshero when the incident occurred, the official said. The cause of the blast has not been disclosed yet.
An imam at a mosque in the vicinity, Ismael Salumu, told the news agency that three peacekeepers lost their lives in the blast. Salumu said, “We just heard the explosion and the cries. We then ran over to see.” However, the casualties have not been confirmed.
Around 18,000 uniformed UN staffers have been deployed in the conflict-ridden Congo, where lakhs of people have lost their lives in violence that was rife between 1996-2003, the news agency reported. Several armed factions continue to dominate certain areas of the country.
More details are awaited.
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