Republic of Congo were kidnapped Thursday in the eastern North Kivu province, a UN source said.
"Three members
of MONUSCO (the 20,000-strong UN peacekeeping force)... have been
kidnapped in Kibumba", some 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the
provincial capital Goma, the source told AFP.
Two of
those seized were Congolese members of a demining team and the other was
part of the international UN team, the source added.
A Congolese army officer said a UN vehicle had been recovered near the presumed site of their abduction.
"The motor was turning and the car was empty," he added.
ABDUCTION
According
to the UN source, the circumstances around the abduction were unclear.
They were seized at around 5:30 pm (1530 GMT), but no details were given
on who had abducted the trio or where they had been taken.
The
incident came as UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous was in DR Congo
seeking to iron out differences between the UN mission and the
government in Kinshasa.
The UN and the Congolese
military were planning a joint offensive against a rebel group at the
start of the year, but DR Congo later declared it would fight alone.
DR
Congo's armed forces say they also face incursions onto their territory
by Rwandan troops, with one Congolese soldier wounded on Wednesday in
an exchange of fire close to the border.
"We have been
informed of the infiltration of hundreds of Rwandan troops," confirmed
Julien Paluku, governor of North Kivu province.
Rwandan authorities refused to comment on the claims when contacted by AFP.
DR
Congo, a vast central African country, has been struggling through a
political crisis since President Joseph Kabila's 2011 re-election, which
was marred by major voting irregularities.
The UN on
Sunday called on the government to respect its citizens' civil liberties
as the political climate has turned tense ahead of key elections next
year.
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