United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres Monday spoke against an attack on a helicopter of the U.N.’s Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, that resulted in the death of a South African peacekeeper and left crew members severely injured.
Through a statement released to the media, Guterres called on authorities in the DRC to “investigate this heinous attack and swiftly bring those responsible to justice.”
“The Secretary General recalls that attacks against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime under international law,” read the U.N.’s statement.
Guterres also expressed his deepest condolences to the family of the fallen peacekeeper and to the government of the Republic of South Africa.
Amadou Ba, the spokesperson for the MONUSCO peacekeeping mission said the aircraft came under fire on Sunday afternoon.
“The aircraft came under fire at around 3:00PM during a flight to Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu province, where it was able to land,” said Ba.
South African military officials confirmed the incident through a statement released Monday.
Information in this report came from Agence France-Presse and statements released to the media by the United Nations and the South African National Defence Force.