The UN Security Council has strongly condemned the violence targeting its officials in Democratic Republic of Congo and asked the Congolese government to fully investigate and prosecute those involved.
Nineteen people have now been confirmed to have died in the violent clashes in multiple towns that targeted UN camps after demonstrations erupted in eastern DR Congo on Monday with people accusing the UN of failing to contain violence by armed groups.
The UN says it has no evidence so far that its peacekeepers fired at civilians during three days of protests against its forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Three UN personnel were among those that died.
The UN Deputy Special Representative in the country, Kassim Diagne, said investigators have already been sent to help the authorities analyse the bullets that killed the civilians in the towns of Goma and Butembo.
Mr Diagne said initial findings however showed that the UN peacekeepers exercised restraint as protesters stormed into their bases and burnt vehicles, offices and looted food stores.
The mission in DR Congo is the second-largest UN peacekeeping force in the world but has in recent years began withdrawing and reducing its forces in parts of the country.
According to Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, any assault on UN peacekeepers could be considered a war crime.
