Two independent, international organizations say nearly 200 civilians were killed in violence last month in two volatile provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the highest toll since June 2017.
The Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a joint project of the Congo Research Group, based at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation, and Human Rights Watch said that armed groups and security forces killed at least 197 civilians over the course of the last 31 days of 2019.
The bulk of civilian deaths occurred in the restive Beni region, with 120 victims slain “in attacks mostly attributed to the Islamist rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces “- a ruthless militia of Ugandan origin. the report said.
The report also added that in addition to the Beni crisis, a new deadly front was opened with the Congolese military offensive against the Rwandan Hutu uprising by the National Council for Renewal and Democracy (CNRD).
“This attack successfully led to the rebellion retreating from the bases it had occupied since early 2019.
“But many civilians were also killed, mostly among rebel fighters’ families. KST has been able to confirm the violent deaths of at least ten non-combatants,” the report said.
