An attack in the eastern DRC’s Ituri province has claimed the lives of at least 14 civilians, including children.
The incident occurred on Monday near the town of Fataki, at a displaced persons’ camp.
It is believed that the CODECO Militia are responsible for the attack.
They are considered one of the deadliest militias operating in the east of the country, blamed for a number of ethnic massacres.
Jules Tsuba, president of an association of civil society groups in Djugu, said most of the victims in Monday’s attack were children and stressed that the death toll was provisional.
They were also responsible for an attack on a gold mine in Djugu, the same area, that killed dozens of people on Sunday.
Army spokesperson Jules Ngongo Tsikudi confirmed a deadly attack had taken place at a mining camp near Mongwalu, but did not detail the number of casualties.
“In the following hours we will know the exact number of deaths,” Tsikudi said. “The army is working day and night to completely eliminate the armed groups here in Ituri.”
Civil society leaders estimated that dozens were killed. One said the local hospital had been overwhelmed by the number of victims.
Attacks on civilians are daily hazards in Congo’s eastern provinces, where groups like CODECO and other warring militias, as well as a local Islamic State affiliate, routinely spar for territory and resources.
Such conflicts have claimed the lives of thousands and displaced millions more since the turn of the decade, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
This month marks one year since Congo’s government declared martial law in Ituri and its neighbouring North Kivu province to quell the violence. But deadly raids have only surged since then, according to the Kivu Security Tracker, which monitors conflict in the region.
