By Justin Kabumba, GOMA DR
Congo
At least nine people were
killed and a dozen wounded when a bomb went off in a village in northeastern
Congo, a local official said Thursday.
The bomb exploded in the
eastern territory of Rutshuru on Wednesday evening, according to Isaac Kibira,
a deputy to the province’s governor. A local self-defense fighter — part of a
militia to protect the community — was tinkering with an unidentified object on
the ground when it detonated in the village center, instantly killing him and
eight civilians nearby.
It was not immediately known
who planted the bomb, though officials said it was found in an area where armed
rebels recently have made incursions.
“Emergency first aid was provided by
elements of the regional forces of the East African Community deployed in the
area,” said Kibira. Local health officials said they admitted the wounded to a
clinic for treatment.
Fighting in eastern Congo has
been simmering for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and
valuable mineral resources — while others try to defend their communities. But
it spiked in late 2021 when the rebel group M23, which was largely dormant for
nearly a decade, resurfaced and started capturing territory. Earlier this week
the UN raised the alarm on an upsurge in violence in the
country’s northeast.
M23
rose to prominence 10 years ago when its fighters seized Goma, eastern Congo’s
largest city on the border with Rwanda. It derives its name from a March 23,
2009, peace deal that it accuses the Congo government of not implementing. The
Congolese government and the UN have accused Rwanda of supporting the M23
rebels, allegations Rwanda denies.
M23 and a local self-defense
group have been fighting for control of the village. Youth militia groups
called “Wazalendo” (“patriots” in Kiswahili) have formed across northeastern
Congo to protect their communities from encroaching armed groups.
Wednesday’s deaths came less
than a week after M23 were accused of killing nearly a dozen people in a different village
in the same area.
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