DR Congo: An armed group at the centre of a long-running ethnic conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeast attacked a camp for displaced people on Friday, killing 10, local sources said. Bordering Uganda, Ituri province has been the scene of battles between the Lendu, mainly settled farmers, and the Hema people, typically nomadic herders. The fighting has resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and mass displacement.
According to Nam News Network, the victims in the recent attack were cut up with machetes while others were shot, as reported by a humanitarian worker. Colonel Ruffin Mapela, the local administrator for Djugu territory where the camp is located, confirmed the death toll of 10 and reported 15 injured.
Local and humanitarian sources indicated that Codeco was responsible for a previous attack on February 10, which killed 51 people in Ituri province, targeting mostly displaced persons. That raid was reportedly a response to an assault by the rival Hema-led Zaire militia in the same area.
Violence between the Hema and Lendu tribes claimed thousands of lives in the gold-rich Ituri region from 1999 to 2003, ending only with the intervention of European forces. The conflict reignited in 2017, causing further casualties. The ongoing violence has led to more than 1.5 million individuals being displaced, according to the UN.