The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has arrested six Ukrainian UN peacekeepers in the eastern city of Goma on charge of possessing Congolese military uniforms, a spokesman for the UN mission (MONUSCO) says.
“The guys have been caught. It’s not only the FARDC (Congolese army) uniforms but, I’m told, uniforms that belong to the Republican (presidential) Guard,” MONUSCO spokesman Kibayasi Seif Ibrahim in Goma said on Wednesday.
MONUSCO commander General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz also met with Congolese army generals in Goma to discuss the fate of the Ukrainians.
Officials say they are concerned that the incident may increase mistrust of UN peacekeepers.
The peacekeepers have already faced violent protests by locals over attacks by unidentified rebels around the northeastern town of Beni that claimed the lives of around 200 people since October.
The protesters say the UN peacekeepers and the Congolese army are not doing enough to stop the attacks.
The UN mission, which has 21,000 troops in Congo, has long faced criticism for failing to protect civilians in the DRC.
The UN force and the Congolese army have struggled to bring peace to the violence-stricken country since 1999, but they have drawn a blank as they are set to leave the country.
Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades such as grinding poverty and crumbling infrastructure.
Several armed groups are active in Congo and are fighting for control of the country’s vast mineral resources, such as gold, the main tin ore cassiterite, and coltan (columbite-tantalite), which is used to make many electronic devices, including cell phones.
Since early May 2012, more than three million people have fled their homes in the eastern Congo. About 2.5 million have resettled in Congo, but some 500,000 have crossed into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.
