BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Militiamen killed 12 individuals in an evening raid on a village in japanese Democratic Republic of Congo close to the shore of Lake Albert, a neighborhood human rights group stated on Tuesday.
The group and a military spokesman blamed the assault on CODECO, considered one of many militias working in Congo’s conflict-ridden east.
CODECO’s fighters are drawn primarily from the Lendu farming group, which has lengthy been in battle with Hema herders. The group couldn’t be reached for remark.
“We have been alerted that CODECO militiamen killed individuals once more in the Bahema-Nord chiefdom. Our forces are on the bottom pursuing the enemy,” stated Jules Ngongo, Congolese military spokesman for Ituri province. He didn’t give a demise toll.
The provisional toll is 12 useless and two injured, stated (*12*) Lossa, president of the Ituri province civil society chapter, which screens killings.
In the worst assault to date this 12 months, CODECO killed round 60 individuals at a displaced individuals camp in February.
Congo’s authorities declared martial regulation in Ituri and neighbouring North Kivu province greater than a 12 months in the past in an effort to quell the violence, however lethal raids have surged since then.
(Reporting by Erikas Mwisi Kambale; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Alex Richardson)
