At Least 55 Killed in Militia Attack on Villages, Displaced Camp in Congo

In Congo, at least 55 civilians were killed in an attack by militia fighters on a cluster of villages and a camp for displaced people in the Ituri province. Media reports said armed men from the Cooperative for the Development of Congo, or CODECO militia, attacked the Djaiba group of villages, which is also home to a camp for the displaced, in the province last night. CODECO is a loose association of militia groups mainly from the ethnic Lendu farming community. The chief of Bahema Badjere district, where the villages are located, confirmed the attack, adding that the death toll is



likely higher as bodies continue to be retrieved.

Most of the victims were displaced people who were killed with machetes and firearms. Violence has surged across eastern Congo, with over 120 armed groups fighting in the region, most for land and control of mines with valuable minerals, while some are trying to protect their communities. The conflict in eastern Congo escalated last month after Rwanda-backed rebels seized Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, which is about 350 km south of Ituri province.