At least 48 people were killed in a crackdown by DR Congo armed forces on a protest that targeted the United Nations peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) in the country’s eastern city of Goma, AFP reports.

Soldiers on Wednesday, August 30, opened fire on the demonstrators belonging to a religious sect, who marched on Goma-based UN mission and other foreign organisations.

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Initially the Governor of North Kivu province admitted seven people, including a policeman, had been killed.

AFP said local sources and official documentation recorded 48 casualties.

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The UN Secretary General said earlier in August that MONUSCO had embarked on a withdrawal plan, which will put an end to one of the longest and most expensive peacekeeping missions.

The 25-year-old mission has been criticised for failing to fight the hundreds of eastern DR Congo-based local and foreign armed groups responsible for killings and human rights abuses.