The Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Dmitry Titov of Russia to lead a Special Investigation into recent attacks on peacekeepers and peacekeeping bases in the Beni territory of North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo. This Special Investigation will include a focus on the 7 December attack in Semuliki, in which 15 Tanzanian peacekeepers were killed, 43 wounded and one remains missing.

The Special Investigation will examine the circumstances surrounding these attacks, evaluate MONUSCO’s overall preparedness and response to the events and provide recommendations on how to prevent such attacks from occurring in the future or when they do occur, from having such lethal consequences.  The investigation team will travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo early in January and will also visit relevant countries in the Great Lakes region.  In addition to officials of the United Nations, the team will also include two military officers from Tanzania.

Mr. Titov joined the United Nations in 1991. He served as Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions in the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) from 2007 – 2017.  Mr. Titov also served as Africa Director in DPKO’s Office of Operations.