The United Nations reported on Thursday that mass graves containing 49 victims had been uncovered in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, attributing the killings to an ethnic militia group.
In the Ituri provincial village of Nyamamba, 42 dead were discovered buried, including 12 women and six children. The corpses of seven men were discovered in the town of Mbogi, roughly 30 kilometres east of the province capital Bunia, according to the United Nations peacekeeping operation, MONUSCO.
“MONUSCO strongly condemns these barbaric and cowardly killings attributed to CODECO,” it said, adding that peacekeepers had launched a patrol in the area over the weekend after hearing about attacks.”
CODECO is one of several militias active in eastern Congo. Its members are primarily drawn from the ethnic Lendu agricultural population, which regularly attacks Hema herders in Ituri region.
Since the beginning of December, at least 195 civilians have been killed and 84 have been kidnapped in attacks blamed on CODECO and a rival militia known as Zaire, bringing the total number of displaced people in Ituri province to more than 1.5 million, according to the UN mission.