24 killed in militia attack in DR Congo

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda - At least 24 people, including women and a child, were killed by militiamen in an attack on a village in the northeastern Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), authorities said on Saturday.

The attack took place in Banyali Kilo sector of Djugu territory on Friday night, according to a local administration official, Innocent Madukadala.

He said the attackers were from the Cooperative for the Development of DR Congo (CODECO) militia.

“Armed assailants raided the village at about 9 p.m. local time (1900GMT). A total of 23 people were killed on the spot and 12 others were injured, one of whom died at hospital,” said Madukadala.

“A child, three women, and 20 men were killed in the attack.”

He said the assailants took advantage of the absence of government forces, who were deployed to the area a few hours later.

- Pressure tactics?

The attack took place hours after the DRC government signed a peace deal with the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Forces (FRPI) militia in Gety on Friday.

The agreement is expected to bring an end to nearly two decades of insecurity in Irumu territory.

The attack by CODECO militiamen -- who are from the Lendu ethnic group -- are part of a strategy to pressure the government to open negotiations with them too, according to security analyst Jean Claude Kabange.

“Renewed attacks by CODECO militiamen on civilians in Djugu are meant to force the government to the negotiating table and, perhaps, gain some concessions in a peace deal similar to the one reached with the FRPI,” Kabange told Anadolu Agency.

Some 700 people have been killed in the area since a surge in inter-communal violence in 2017, according to local civil society groups.

More than 350 CODECO militiamen surrendered and gathered at a transit site at the Kpadroma trading centre in Ituri last year, but they retreated again this February.