UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General Bintou Keita in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) condemned a series of attacks targeting UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) personnel in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.

Keita said that “Weakening MONUSCO means strengthening the negative forces that it is fighting with its Congolese partners (FARDC, PNC)” and that the violence can constitute war crimes.

The attacks occurred in the capital, Kinshasa, where Keita said several vehicles belonging to MONUSCO were set on fire and came as part of a series of violence in the country as a rocket was launched at a University in the eastern city, Goma, where the 23 March Movement (M23), a rebel group originating from soldiers who defected from the DRC’s army in 2012, keep increasing their offense.

In January, MONUSCO had to evacuate civilians following violent attacks in the Eastern region of the country. The army reported that M23 rebels carried out the attacks. At the same time, the leader of the group accused the army of using drones and heavy artillery to bomb the town, causing the death of civilians.

M23 rebels have been subject to severe condemnations for their violent actions, as it was reported in February 2023 by Amnesty International was responsible for killings and rapes that occurred in 2022. Moreover, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the group in June 2023 report of war crimes, including murder and rape.

The violence against MONUSCO is not new, as the UN reported in September 2023 that 43 people were killed during anti-UN demonstrations. In a separate attack in February 2023, A UN peacekeeper part of MONUSCO was killed and another injured after their helicopter came under fire in the eastern region of the country.

The UN condemned the new wave of misinformation targeting its mission in DRC in a press release published by MONUSCO and called for its personnel in the country to contribute to the consolidation of peace and to participate in improving the population’s lives.

Unrest in the country has been ongoing for three decades and was fuelled by the emergence of the M23 rebel group, which seized large numbers of territories in 2021. MONUSCO has been operating in the region since 2010 with the objective of protecting civilians.