At least 11 people killed in militia clashes in western DRC: Official
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The spokesperson for the provincial government says Mobondo militants of the Yaka community have claimed the lives of 11 people in a tribal feud.
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Democratic Republic of Congo military troops patrol an area near Beni in North-Kivu province, December 13, 2013 (Reuters)
A minimum of 11 people were killed in militia clashes in the western Democratic Republic of Congo as a province in the region announced a curfew amid increased violence in the area, officials said on Saturday.
Provincial government spokesperson, Adelar Nkisi, said Mobondo militants — a militia of the Yaka community— attacked the village of Batshongo in the Kwango province.
The attack resulted in the death of two soldiers, a police officer, and two civilians as the militants proceeded to dismember the soldiers, Nkisi told AFP. Since Nkisi's statement, the death toll rose to 11.
Clashes took place in Batshongo on Frida night and carried on to the next day, in the village located 8 kilometers west of the capital province of Kinshasa.
The government announced a curfew starting at 8 pm local time until the early morning in response to the security threat in the province.
Official reports of the death toll have been put into question after a Kwango civil society leader, Symphorien Kwengo, stated otherwise, saying a total of 19 people were killed in two different villages in the province.
Conflict in western regions of DRC ensued last year between the Teke and Yaka communities in the Kwamouth territory of Mai-Ndombe province, in a dispute over customary annual produce or earnings.
The Teke claim to be indigenous to the area's villages and consider the Yaka and other smaller communities to be intruders.
The Teke chiefs collect a form of customary tax from all residents in the areas they claim to be theirs, and tensions seem to have led to a falling out between the Teke and the other communities, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
The organization estimates that more than 300 people have been killed so far in Mai-Ndombe. However, the number of deaths cannot be precisely measured in the rural areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as observers speculate that the number is much higher.
Clashes have spread to the neighboring province of Kwango — where today's events took place — in addition to the capital province of Kinshasa.
