- As California deadly wildfires sweep through wine country…….
Two U.N. peacekeepers from Tanzania were killed and 18 more wounded in a series of attacks Monday in eastern Congo by suspected Ugandan rebels of the ADF group, the United Nations said.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attacks and urged Congolese authorities “to swiftly investigate these incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The U.N. chief noted that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law, the spokesman said.
Dujarric said earlier that the injured have been evacuated to Goma.
“The mission deployed attack helicopters as well as the force intervention brigade in support of operations as well as to reinforce presence,” he said, adding that mission forces are also deployed to restore order and protect the population.
The suspected rebels attacked early Monday near a U.N. base in Mamundioma, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Beni, U.N. Congo mission spokeswoman Florence Marchal said earlier.
The rebels also seized weapons, said Jean-Paul Ngahangondi of a local civil rights group.
A Tanzanian brigade is stationed at the U.N. base there where earlier in September ADF rebels killed a Tanzanian peacekeeper.
Ten people were killed in fighting in the region Saturday night, said local administrator Amisi Kalonda. At least 22 people are missing, said David Muhaze, the president of a civil society organization. The total of missing and dead could not be confirmed by officials.
Dujarric said Guterres “once again calls on all armed groups in the country to lay down their weapons.”
In the meantime, parts of California’s wine region are being ravaged by fast-spreading fires that have killed at least 10 people.
Mass evacuations have taken place and at least 1,500 properties have been destroyed. Seven people were killed in Sonoma county, authorities said.
About 20,000 people fled from Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties after some of the state’s worst-ever wildfires broke out.
The governor of California has declared an emergency.
least fourteen fires are burning across eight Californian counties
“These fires have destroyed structures and continue to threaten thousands of homes, necessitating the evacuation of thousands of residents,” the declaration said.
Along with the deaths in Sonoma county, two people were killed in Napa county and one in Mendocino county when thousands of acres burned in one valley.
Further injuries have been reported and some people are said to be missing.
Marian Williams of Kenwood, Sonoma county, said she and her neighbours had fled the flames in a convoy of vehicles.
“It was an inferno like you’ve never seen before,” she told broadcaster NBC.
The head of California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Kim Pimlott, said that about 1,500 buildings had already been destroyed.
It is not yet known how the fires started on Sunday night.
ABC with additional report from BBC
