20 dies in attack on DR Congo displaced persons camp.
According to an aid worker and civil rights activist, at least 20 civilians were killed in an attack on a camp for internally displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeast.
Mambo Bapu Mance, the Red Cross organizer, said on Monday that 20 persons were buried right away in two shared graves, while another two died of their wounds and were buried later.
Only a week ago, the same camp in Ituri province was assaulted, killing 29 people.
Mance blamed the attack on Ivo camp on Sunday on the armed organization Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO).
Charite Banza, the president of a civil rights organization, estimated the death toll at 22.
“This is the third attack by these outlaws against displacement sites in the space of a week in this part of the country, causing more than 50 deaths and enormous material damage,” Banza told the agency.
The same death toll was reported by the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a US-based monitor of violence in the region.
Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, the region’s army spokesman, stated the CODECO rebels were defeated, but did not elaborate.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy leader, has urged for tough punishment for the culprits.
“The EU condemns the new appalling attacks committed by the militia against civilian populations, particularly the internally displaced persons,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Decisiveness against the perpetrators and support & justice for the victims is necessary for a lasting peace in the region.”
With the rise of the CODECO militia, which has since splintered into opposing factions, the gold-rich Ituri region has been thrown back into a cycle of warfare.
Since May 6, Ituri and neighboring North Kivu have been under siege as a last resort to confront armed organizations such as CODECO and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
Military and police officers have taken the position of civilian administrations.
Two further strikes occurred elsewhere in Ituri overnight Saturday, killing a total of nine civilians, according to civil society activist Isaac Nyakuklinda.
