(Bunia) “Dozens” of people were killed in the night from Sunday to Monday in attacks on villages and a site of displaced people in Ituri, in the north-east of the DRC, we learned from corroborating sources.
A senior military source who requested anonymity told AFP that these attacks in Djugu territory had “killed dozens”. Experts from the Kivu Security Barometer (KST), who had initially mentioned 107 dead, on Monday evening revised their toll to 29 dead.
“The vast majority of the dead are civilians,” according to the KST, which attributed these attacks to militiamen from the Codeco group (Cooperative for the development of Congo), made up of members of the Lendu community.
Members of the rival Hema community were in the majority in the attacked IDP camp in the village of Drodro, the same source told AFP.
“The enemy went so far as to burn down a camp for the displaced. It constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity, ”lamented Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, army spokesman in Ituri.
A source from the UN Mission in the DRC (Monusco) told AFP that 16,000 displaced people from Drodro, as well as villagers fleeing the violence, had been taken to a nearby displaced persons camp in Roe. , near a temporary Blue Helmets base, where 21,000 other displaced persons are already accommodated.
The Codeco armed group claims to defend the interests of the Lendu community in Ituri, a gold province marked by strong antagonisms between ethnic groups. This group split into several rival factions.
It was with the advent of this Codeco militia at the end of 2017 that the province plunged back into a cycle of violence.
Ituri and the neighboring province of North Kivu have been placed under a state of siege since May 6, an exceptional measure to fight against armed groups. Civilian authorities were replaced there by army and police officers.