GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo: Militants attacked two military bases in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, killing a UN peacekeeper and injuring a dozen others, the UN mission and the army said.
The mission, known as MONUSCO, said it had deployed attack helicopters in response to the raid, and local sources said the army was battling militants along the main road leading from North Kivu province’s Beni territory to the Uganda border.
The fighting, which began this weekend, is a fresh outbreak of violence for a region plagued by ethnic tensions and massacres that killed more than 800 people between 2014-2016.
“I can confirm an attack on the MONUSCO base at Mamundioma this morning which killed one peacekeeper and injured 12,” said the spokeswoman for the UN’s Congo mission Florence Marchal, referring to a village near the city of Beni.
Army spokesman Mak Hazukay said the attacks were carried out simultaneously and blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan Islamist group active near the border between Congo and Uganda, for the attacks. He said the UN base houses Tanzanian peacekeepers that formed part of an intervention brigade which has a mandate to conduct offensive operations against militants.
ADF is believed by authorities to have ambushed and killed many civilians nearby this weekend after a lull in attacks against civilians near Beni this year.
Omar Kavota, who leads an organization that monitors violence in North Kivu, said ADF fighters killed at least three civilians on Saturday by slitting their throats and took another 19 hostages, citing testimony by other captives who were released or managed to escape.
Congolese authorities have blamed the ADF for nearly all the massacres between 2014-2016. However, independent and UN experts say several armed groups as well as national army commanders have been involved.
Militants attack Congo bases in northeast, killing UN peacekeeper
Militants attack Congo bases in northeast, killing UN peacekeeper
Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Japan’s Chugoku region
- Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no irregularities at the plant
TOKYO: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 hit the western Chugoku region of Japan on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, followed by a series of sizeable aftershocks.
The epicenter of the first earthquake was in eastern Shimane prefecture, the agency said, adding that there was no danger of a tsunami. Chugoku Electric Power operates the Shimane Nuclear Power Station, about 32 km (20 miles) away.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no irregularities at the plant.
A spokesperson said the utility was checking on any impact on the plant’s No.2 unit, which has been operating since December 2024 after being shut down following the March 2011 disasters in Fukushima.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas.
The earthquake had a seismic intensity of upper-5 on Japan’s 1-7 scale, strong enough to make movement difficult without support.
West Japan Railway said it had suspended Shinkansen bullet-train operations between Shin-Osaka and Hakata following the quake.
