United Nations, Jan 28: Peacekeeping head Jean-Pierre Lacroix has thanked India and other countries contributing troops to the UN operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where three peacekeepers were killed last week.
The 1,114 Indian troops and 160 police personnel were reported safe after two South African and one Uruguayan peacekeepers were killed by the M23 rebel group, which has overrun eastern areas of the mineral-rich country.
Lacroix said on Monday, "We really admire the resilience, the fortitude, the determination and commitment of our peacekeepers, the men and women for serving the political, and I want to extend this expression of gratitude to the troop-contributing countries."
"It's very challenging for our peacekeepers, and of course, it is very challenging for our true contributing countries, and I really thank them for the support," he added.
La Croix, who is the under-secretary-general for peace operations, spoke through a video link from Damascus, where he was on another UN mission.
He said that he has been in touch with several ambassadors from troop-contributing countries.
Previously, 21 Indian peacekeepers have been killed while serving with MONSUSCO, one of the deadliest UN operations, which has claimed the lives of about 290 peacekeepers.
On Friday, the two South Africans and on Saturday, the Uruguayan peacekeepers were killed in eastern DRC.
In addition, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which has a separate peacekeeping mission in the DRC, reported that three Malawi and nine South African soldiers in its operation were killed, according to Face of Malawi.
The current upsurge in violence is blamed on neighbouring Rwanda, whose troops were accused of aiding the M23 rebel group.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the Rwandan military to stop supporting M23 and withdraw from DRC.
The Security Council held an emergency meeting on Sunday on the situation in the DRC and, in a rare show of unanimity, issued a statement condemning the presence of "external forces" in eastern DRC, a diplomatic reference to Rwanda.
M23 is reported to have captured Goma, a principal city in eastern DRC, in a country rich in minerals sought by high-tech.
The group takes its name after a March 23, 2009, DRC peace deal to end the rebellions in the country that it says was violated.
The UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO from its French initials, was created by the Security Council in 2010 to protect civilians and humanitarian personnel and support the DRC government's efforts to bring order to the country torn by rebel groups.
(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in)
