At least 48 people were killed in a crackdown by DR Congo armed forces on a protest that targeted the United Nations peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) in the country’s eastern city of Goma, AFP reports. Soldiers on Wednesday, August 30, opened fire on the demonstrators belonging to a religious sect, who marched on Goma-based UN mission and other foreign organisations. ALSO READ: UN troops in DR Congo ‘set to be withdrawn’ Initially the Governor of North Kivu province admitted seven people, including a policeman, had been killed. AFP said local sources and official documentation recorded 48 casualties. ALSO READ: DR Congo: Three killed as rioters torch UN convoy ALSO READ: MONUSCO will leave a trail of failures - experts The UN Secretary General said earlier in August that MONUSCO had embarked on a withdrawal plan, which will put an end to one of the longest and most expensive peacekeeping missions. The 25-year-old mission has been criticised for failing to fight the hundreds of eastern DR Congo-based local and foreign armed groups responsible for killings and human rights abuses.
