Helmet and flack jackets of the members of the 1 parachute battalion of the South African contingent of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), in a photo dated 14 February 2008. (UN Photo/Marie Frechon)
A Moroccan soldier serving with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central Africa Republic (CAR) was killed in an attack on an aerodrome in the eastern prefecture of Haut-Mbomou, the UN announced on November 26.
The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR, also known as MINUSCA, did not say who carried out the attack on the aerodrome which is located near the town Obo, the capital of Haut-Mbomou.
“A blue helmet from the Moroccan contingent… died after an attack on Thursday [November 24] morning at the Obo aerodrome while he was protecting the aerodrome perimeter for a landing, with other members of his continent,” the mission said in a statement.
MINUSCA noted that an investigation was immediately launched to unveil the exact circumstances of the attack. The mission said that “any attack on the life of a peacekeeper may be considered a war crime under international law and subject to prosecution by national and international justice.”
“MINUSCA calls on the Central African authorities to make every effort to identify the perpetrators of this attack so that they can be brought to justice quickly,” the statement added.
In June, two Moroccan peacekeepers were killed in an attack that took place near the city of Bangassou, the capital of the southeastern prefecture of Mbomou.
The 14,000-strong MINUSCA force has been deployed in the CAR, which is wracked by civil war and political instability, since 2014. Attacks on the force have been repeatedly reported over the last few years. More than 140 peacekeepers have been killed, so far.
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Good news from Africa. Another Muslim killed.
Whatever were the UN landing?
It’s the UN, the mind boggles.