BENI, DR Congo
At least 14 people were killed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo province of Ituri on Sunday, after militia attacked worshippers praying in a church, a local official and a civil society leader said on Monday.
The Cooperative for the
Development of the Congo, CODECO, group, one of many militias operating in the
conflict-ridden east, was behind the attack, said Djugu territory administrator
Ruphin Mapela and civil society leader Dieudonne Lossa.
"The victims were praying
to the Lord, but unfortunately militiamen identified as CODECO opened fire on
them," Lossa said.
Both said that 9 civilians, 4
assailants and a soldier were killed.
Mapela said that militants
attacked Mesa, Cepac and Aumopro churches located near the shore of Lake Albert
in the Bahema-Nord chiefdom.
"We call on the
population to remain calm as the armed forces pursue these criminals to put
them out of action," Ituri army spokesman Jules Ngongo Tshikudi said.
CODECO claims to defend the
interests of Lendu farmers, who have long been in conflict with Hema herders.
The CODECO raids have worsened
a longstanding humanitarian crisis in Ituri province, where some 3 million
people are in desperate need of aid, according to a United Nations humanitarian
agency.
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