Eight farmers killed in militia attacks in DR Congo

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
1 May 00:24

The militiamen were accused of setting fire to scores of homes and plundering livestock.

Soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Butembo, north of Kivu, on May 18, 2019 (AFP)

Eight farmers were killed on Sunday in an attack blamed on a militant group targeting three villages in northeast DR Congo, a local official confirmed.

Members of the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo (CODECO) attacked the villages of Duvire, Njalo, and Bengi at around 5:00 am (0300 GMT), Adubango Kivia from the district of Djugu in Ituri province told AFP.

"We found eight bodies, including a woman. They're farmers. They were shot dead and then chopped up by machete," he said, accusing the militiamen of setting fire to scores of homes and plundering livestock.

Adubango Kivia said the militiamen "operated calmly" and called on Congolese soldiers to deploy "to secure the population and bring an end to massacres" in the area around 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the provincial capital Bunia.

CODECO says it is protecting the Lendu community from another ethnic group, the Hema, as well as the DRC army.

The Hema are defended by the Zaire militia -- while the province is also targeted by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) linked to the "Islamic State".

Eastern Congo is plagued by dozens of armed groups, many of which are a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.

Ituri province is one of the violence hotspots, where attacks claiming dozens of lives are routine.

The last attack blamed on CODECO killed more than 40 people on April 14 in villages around 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the provincial capital of Bunia.

A couple of weeks ago, the United Nations reported that attacks in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo province of Ituri had killed more than 150 people in the last two weeks.

The security situation in Ituri was "extremely concerning" with the assaults leaving residents "in dire need of assistance and protection," according to Stephane Dujarric, the UN Secretary-General's Spokesperson.

Dujarric stated that the UN was dedicated to assisting victims of violence, but cautioned that "delivery of this assistance may be delayed in areas impacted by recent attacks."