Dozens of civilians killed in attacks in northeast DR Congo

ITURI, DR Congo

Several people were killed in attacks on villages and a centre for internally displaced persons in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province in the northeast, according to a military source.

The source, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the attacks in Djugu area on Sunday night caused “dozens” of deaths.

Meanwhile, the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), an eminent US-based monitor of violence in the region, said “at least 107” bodies were discovered.

The vast majority of the dead are civilians,” the KST said.

The KST blamed the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO), an armed group which claims to protect the interests of the Lendu community.The monitor added that members of the rival Hema community were the majority at the camp for internally displaced people in Drodro village.Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, the army spokesman in Ituri, condemned the attack noting that “the enemy went so far as to burn down a camp for the displaced.

It constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity,” Ngongo added.

About 16,000 displaced people from Drodro, as well as villagers fleeing the violence, had been taken to a nearby displaced people’s camp in Roe, near a temporary peacekeeper base, where 21,000 people were already living, according to a source from the UN’s mission in the DR Congo.

Ituri province, which is rich in gold deposits, has been plagued by violence for the last four years with the rise of the CODECO militia, which has since split into rival factions.

Ituri and neighbouring North Kivu have been under a state of siege since May 6, an exceptional measure to combat armed groups, including CODECO and the ADF. Civilian authorities have been replaced by military and police officers.