UN opens probe after two die in Goma protest

The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo said today it has opened a probe after residents accused UN peacekeepers of killing two people who tried to storm its base in the restive eastern city of Goma.
Martin Kobler, head of the UN's MONUSCO mission, said in a statement he "deplored" the deaths and had "asked for an investigation jointly led by DR Congo police and the MONUSCO to be opened".
Witnesses said two peacekeepers from Uruguay shot dead two people yesterday who were part of a crowd attempting to storm the mission's base near the airport during a protest decrying the UN's inaction in the strife-torn region.

"It was the Uruguayans who opened fire on our group. Two people were killed instantly and four others were injured and rushed to hospital," Augustin Matendo, one of the protesters, told AFP.
A military source who spoke on condition of anonymity said that "the Uruguayan troops were overcome by the crowd which was trying to enter their camp and shot to disperse people."
MONUSCO was not immediately available to comment on the claim.

But Uruguayan President Jose Mujica told local radio that the peacekeepers from his country were not to blame, and "have acted appropriately, complying with all protocols in place in these cases".

Mujica pointed the finger of blame at DR Congo police, saying they were responsible for the deadly fire.
Shelling in Goma's western neighbourhood of Ndosho on yesterday killed three people and wounded three UN peacekeepers, just days after renewed clashes between the Congolese army and M23 rebels.
Britain said today that it was withdrawing staff based in the city due to the spike in violence.
"Our staff was instructed to leave the area overnight as a precautionary measure," a foreign office spokesperson told AFP.
Only a very few staff were being withdrawn, the spokesperson said, adding that London would review the situation today.

After a two-month lull, fighting between the army and the M23 has erupted sporadically since mid-July in North Kivu, a chronically unstable region which has the mining hub of Goma as its capital.
In an open letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Saturday, M23 rebel leader Bertrand Bisimwa accused Kinshasa of targeting civilians and demanded an independent inquiry into its actions.