At least 24 people were killed in an attack by militiamen in a village in the province of Ituri in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to security sources from the provincial authorities on Saturday, 12 other people were seriously injured by the attackers late Friday.
Witnesses on the scene note that the assailants dressed in army uniforms opened fire on everyone they encountered on the street in the villages during the attacks. Several goods of the population were also taken by the attackers, recognized as members of the Cooperative for the development of Congo (CODECO).
The militiamen of the CODECO have been active in the Djugu territory north of the city of Bunia, capital of Ituri province since last year. The fighting between these attackers and the DRC army has resulted in the displacement of some 300,000 people who have left the area to take refuge in camps for displaced people set up by humanitarian workers in the town of Bunia.
In a report published last January, the UN human rights office said that about 700 people were killed in community conflicts in the Djugu territory between September 2017 and September 2019. For two decades these two Hema-Lendu communities have been living side by side difficultly because of land problems in this new province of Ituri.
