A helicopter flying a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo with eight crew on board crashed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday.
According to MONUSCO, as the U.N. mission in Congo is also known, the helicopter went down in the North Kiwu Province after being shot at from the ground.
The helicopter is said to have caught fire before crashing. All eight crew, including including six Pakistan Army soldiers, one Russian and one Serbian Army soldier, perished in the crash.
Pakistan’s army has also revealed the identities of the deceased soldiers, noting that the helicopter involved was a SA 330 Puma. The country has been deploying aviation units to Congo since 2011.
The crash took place in an area that has seen an increase in clashes between Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and rebel group M23, which has been blamed for the incident.
