GOMA, Congo: A soldier in northeastern Congo opened fire on family members and others who had buried his son before he could arrive home to attend the ceremony, killing 13 people, including 10 children, officials said Sunday.
The attack late Saturday left the soldier’s wife, in-laws and two of his children dead, before he turned his weapon on other civilians, said Lt. Jules Ngongo, a spokesman for the army in Ituri province, where the killings took place.
The soldier was not identified.
The soldier arrived home from his post at another village in the province to find family and community members gathered in mourning for his son, who died Thursday of natural causes, said Baraka Muguwa Oscar, the local village chief.
“This soldier did not like the fact that his son … was buried without his approval and in his absence,” Oscar said.
Elements of the Congolese army were dispatched to apprehend the soldier, a member of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, or FARDC, who fled the scene after the attack.
“No matter what the case, the time or the circumstances, you can’t take a person’s life. This is an act of indiscipline that will be dealt with by the courts,” said Ngongo, the army spokesperson.
Fighting in eastern Congo has been simmering for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities. Earlier this week, the United Nations warned of a surge in violence in the country’s northeast.
Soldier in Congo kills 13 people, including his wife, after son’s burial takes place without him
https://arab.news/2cca7
Soldier in Congo kills 13 people, including his wife, after son’s burial takes place without him
UK police arrest former ambassador Peter Mandelson in probe into Epstein ties
- Former UK ambassador to the US arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office
LONDON: British police on Monday arrested Peter Mandelson, a former UK ambassador to the United States, in a misconduct probe stemming from his ties with Jeffrey Epstein.
London’s Metropolitan Police force said “officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office” at an address in north London.
It did not name Mandelson, in keeping with British police practice, but the suspect in the case has previously been identified as Mandelson.
Police are investigating Mandelson over documents suggesting he passed sensitive government information to Epstein a decade and a half ago. He does not face any allegations of sexual misconduct.
His arrest comes four days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew, was arrested on suspicion of a similar offense related to his friendship with Epstein.
Mandelson was fired from his diplomatic post in September after emails were published showing that he maintained a friendship with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor. When more details emerged in documents released by the US Justice Department last month, police opened a criminal probe.
