The Congolese army announced in a statement on Tuesday that a helicopter belonging to the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was shot down by M23 rebel fighters in eastern Congo, killing at least eight individuals on board.
Earlier in the day, the United Nations mission, known as MONUSCO, claimed it had lost communication with the chopper in an area where rebels were staging an onslaught.
On Monday, the M23 group, which was forced out of Congo following an insurrection in 2012 and 2013, attacked two army positions near the borders with Uganda and Rwanda, and fighting lasted into Tuesday.
According to a Congolese army statement, the chopper was shot down while on a mission to track civilian population movements in an area controlled by the rebels.
According to the army, it is seeking to locate it as well as any potential survivors.
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