A rocket-propelled grenade being held by a Congolese soldier inadvertently exploded when the vehicle he was in struck an object on the road, leaving one person dead and 11 others injured.
According to a statement from the governor of North Kivu read out by his spokesman Lt Col Guillaume Ddjike Kaiko on Thursday, it occurred near the Unity stadium in Goma, injuring civilians as well as the soldier who had been holding the grenade.
He said they were being treated at the local provincial hospital.
Maj Gen Cirimwami Nkuba Peter, the governor, expressed his condolences to the affected individuals’ families and pleaded with the public to maintain their composure during this already tense time.
Six members of the elite presidential guard have been on trial in a military court since the beginning of September in relation to the last month’s death of at least 50 civilians.
It followed a crackdown on a planned peaceful protest in Goma against UN peacekeepers in the region. Human Rights Watch then criticised the action as “an extremely callous” and “unlawful”.
Ituri and North Kivu provinces have been under the supervision of security forces since 2021, and the military and police have taken the place of the civilian government there.
Military rule was imposed with the aim of fighting armed groups operating in the region.
Source-BBC
