The United Nations will launch an investigation into the killing of it 15 Tanzanian soldiers serving as peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said in a statement on Friday.
According to the statement, Dmitry Titov of Russia, a former U.N. assistant secretary-general, has been appointed to lead the probe, which will evaluate the peacekeeping mission’s preparedness, examine the circumstances surrounding the attack and provide recommendations for prevention of similar attacks in the future.
In addition to U.N. officials, the investigation team will include two Tanzanian military officers, it said.
U.N. officials said they suspected Ugandan rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) carried out the assault on the base in the town of Semuliki in Congo’s North Kivu province.
The peacekeepers were killed on December 7 in what was described as the worst attack on U.N. ‘blue helmets’ in recent history.
The ADF is an Islamist rebel group that has been active in the area.
Tanzania and the African Union had called for a probe into the killings.
Guterres condemned the attack, saying “deliberate attacks against United Nations peacekeepers are unacceptable and constitute a war crime.”
