BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo: Local officials said on Sunday that suspected militants killed as many as 22 people in a thread of attacks in Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu and eastern Ituri provinces overnight Saturday.
22 killed in recent wave of violence in Democratic Republic of Congo: Officials
The attacks were the latest in a stream of continuous wave of violence that has overwhelmed eastern Congo for several years, despite increasing interventions from UN peacekeepers and Democratic Republic of Congo’s military.
Local officials and civil society leaders said that at least 12 people were killed on Saturday in simultaneous attacks in several villages in Ituri province. They blamed the CODECO group for the attacks in the area.
Colonel Jacques Disanoa told Reuters that despite of several appeals for peaceful cohabitation…the militants continue to target the vulnerable. Similarly, Colonel Alain Kiwewa said that militants also killed another 10 people and kidnapped three more in the village of Nguli.
The government of Congo declared a state of siege in Ituri and North Kivu in 2021 to stalk rampant militia violence in the mineral-rich east region. But the killings and violence have not shown any sign of reduction.
Activist in North Kivu Delphine Malekani said that when they are under siege, the “enemy still surprises” them daily.
