UN peacekeeper dies in DRC fighting

A U.N. peacekeeper was killed and several others wounded in fighting with the insurgent group M23 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, U.N. officials said. The U.N. mission in the country said in a release the casualties occurred Wednesday during a clash with M23 forces near Goma. U.N. officials said the insurgents had been using their positions on the Kibati heights north of Goma to shell populated areas. The U.N. peacekeeping forces provided mortar and artillery fire, along with attack helicopters, in support of the Congolese military's assault on the M23 positions, which included the use of attack helicopters, tanks and ground troops, the U.N. release said. "I am outraged by today's killing of a United Nations peacekeeper from Tanzania by the M23," Martin Kobler, special representative of the secretary-general and head of the U.N. mission in the DRC, said in a statement. "He sacrificed his life to protect civilians in Goma. My thoughts go to his family and all members of his unit in this very difficult moment." The M23 and other armed groups have had repeated battles with the Congolese military over the past year.