Militiamen kill 12 in east Congo village raid
By Erikas Mwisi Kambale
BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Militiamen killed 12 folks in an evening raid on a village in jap 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, certainly one of many militias working in Congo’s conflict-ridden east.
CODECO’s fighters are drawn primarily from the Lendu farming neighborhood, which has lengthy been in battle with Hema herders. The group couldn’t be reached for remark.
“Now we have been alerted that CODECO militiamen killed folks once more within 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 Dieudonne Lossa, president of the Ituri province civil society chapter, which screens killings.
Within the worst assault thus far this 12 months, CODECO killed round 60 folks at a displaced individuals camp in February.
Congo’s authorities declared martial legislation 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; Modifying by Alex Richardson)
