UN jets bombard several rebel positions in eastern DR Congo

Military jets of the UN Mission for Stabilization of Congo (MONUSCO) on Tuesday bombarded several positions of the Ugandan rebels, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF),in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).

"The whole day, the UN peacekeepers took measures to support the DR Congo army respond to attacks launched on Sunday by these rebels against Eringeti locality where 24 people were killed," said Jean Baillaud, a UN commander.

"It must be made very clear that the time to eliminate these armed groups has began due to the seriousness of what they did in Eringeti," Baillaud said.

The commander of the UN force said the heavy fighting had unfortunately resulted in the death of one UN peacekeeper from Malawi, left another one injured and led to destruction of some of the mission's vehicles.

General Baillaud said the ADF rebels were particularly attacked using UN fighter jets.

"We used different means to track down the path taken in the bush by these terrorists and we attacked them this morning with our helicopters," he said.

General Baillaud said actions taken by MONUSCO after the Eringeti attacks were in support of FARDC and they were only meant to neutralize ADF positions inside the forest.

On Sunday, ADF launched simultaneous attacks against FARDC positions, a MONUSCO base in Eringeti, a local hospital in Eringeti and a police station in Beni territory, leaving 24 people dead. Enditem