New York  - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday condemned the killing of a journalist working for a UN radio station in the Democratic Republic of Congo - the second such incident within the past year.

Ban said he learned with "deep distress" of the murder in Bukavu Friday of Didace Namujimbo, a journalist from Radio Okapi, the station of the UN mission in Congo, which is managed in partnership with Fondation Hirondelle.

"This crime is all the more devastating as it marks the second time in less than two years that a member of Radio Okapi's staff has been brutally killed in the same city," Ban said in a statement.

Ban said the murder underlined the deep insecurity of journalists, who have become particularly vulnerable in the war-torn country.

The UN has called on Congolese authorities to ensure that the case is investigated thoroughly. (dpa)