KINSHASA (AFP) — Some Congolese soldiers, apparently disgruntled over months with no pay, fired shots at a UN base in the restive east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, UN officials said Wednesday.
No one was injured in the shooting that took place late Monday in Pinga in Nord-Kivu province where some 160 UN peacekeepers are based, according to a spokesman for the UN mission in DR Congo known as MONUC.
"No one was killed or injured. The armed men took off into the surrounding hills where sporadic gunfire could be heard during the night," said MONUC spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich.
"The commander of the DR Congo armed forces (FARDC) told us later that they have arrested 27 soldiers believed responsible for firing" at the MONUC base, he added.
According to a UN military source, the soldiers were showing "their discontent because they have not been paid for several months" by the Kinshasa government.
Dietrich commented: "Not paying the salaries of the soldiers at the front is a major concern. The problem must be resolved quickly."
The Congolese army is engaged in fighting rebel militias in the east of the vast central African country, including Rwandan Hutu rebels, some of whom are accused of having taken part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
MONUC provides logistical aid to the Congolese forces.
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