Barbara Among
30 December 2008
Kampala — A Ugandan soldier was shot dead on Sunday by a UN peacekeeper in the DR Congo, the UN mission (MONUC) in the country confirmed yesterday.
"A soldier from the UPDF died on Sunday at the Dungu base. A MONUC soldier accidentally fired his machine gun, hitting the Ugandan soldier who was passing in front of a UN vehicle," the UN said.
The solder died from the injuries and his body was flown home on Sunday. But the army is yet to inform the family of the dead soldier.
As a norm, the army can only reveal the identity of a slain soldier after the family is informed.
The recent death brings to two the number of Ugandan soldiers killed since the operation against the LRA rebels started on December 14. Lt. Bosco Opio, 33, died in a plane crash during a routine flight at Isiro airbase in Congo last Wednesday.
The UN said yesterday that an inquiry would be carried out into the accident.
"This was an accident and our relationship with MONUC will not be affected," said the spokesperson of the joint Operation Lightning Thunder, Capt. Chris Magezi.
According to Magezi, the soldier was shot on Sunday at 12:00pm at their base in Dungu, which the troops are sharing with the UN contingent from Morocco.
The UN Security Council has supported the joint offensive against the LRA rebels. Its mission (MONUC) in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been feeding the joint forces with intelligent information. It has also provided helicopter gun-ships for the operation.
Following renewed killings by the LRA rebels over the Christmas holiday, MONUC over the weekend ferried Congolese troops to Dungu and Garamba in order to prevent further attacks by the LRA.
Kony is reportedly heading towards the Central African Republic.
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