UN aircraft fired on in Kindu

[Please note that this version corrects the nationality of the UN troops in Kindu, in paragraph six]

A UN aircraft carrying 14 passengers was fired on when coming in to land at Kindu, Maniema Province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on Tuesday.

At least one bullet hit the fuselage, but none of the passengers was hurt, said Hamadoun Toure, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (known by its French acronym, MONUC), in Kinshasa.

"MONUC is the wrong target to fire at," said UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the DRC Amos Ngongi, who condemned the attack as unacceptable. He said the incident looked like "a covert attempt to block or slow down the installation of the MONUC at Kindu".

Kindu, a city surrounded by jungle, is to be the main base for Phase Three of MONUC's mission, involving the voluntary disarmament of foreign armed groups in the DRC.

An inquiry into the incident has already begun, and the bullet has been identified as having been fired from an AK-47 assault rifle. The exact time when the shot was fired has not so far been determined, but it seems to have been a few minutes before the aircraft landed.

The first UN troops are due to deploy in Kindu on 20 February. The initial force will consist of 200 Uruguayan infantrymen and 200 Uruguayan engineers. They will be reinforced progressively, and up to 2,500 troops will be deployed for Phase Three during this year.