BUNIA
\nMilitia fighters on Friday killed more than 20 civilians in a village in the gold-rich Ituri province in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, local residents said.
\nThe residents blamed the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (Codeco) militia for the killings. Codeco claims to be fighting for the interests of the Lendu tribe against the rival Hema tribe.
\n\u201cCodeco militias attacked the village of Lodjo on Thursday, where they killed eight civilians. They came back on Friday, the current death toll is 36,\u201d Innocent Matukadala, head of the Banyali Kilo administrative center, that takes in Lodjo, told AFP.
\nHe said the Congolese army \u201carrived too late\u201d to prevent the massacre. \u201cThe population is in disarray,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cFor now, there are 28 dead (on Friday) and a massive displacement of the population,\u201d said a civil society leader on condition of anonymity.
\nOther sources put the number of dead at 23. One said the dead included gold miners, women and children.
\nDozens of civilians have been killed in Codeco attacks on villages in the province since the beginning of this year.
\nInter-communal violence killed thousands in Ituri from 1999-2003 until an intervention by European forces restored calm.
\nThe conflict erupted again in 2017, resulting in thousands more deaths and the mass displacement of local people.
\nThe southern part of Ituri has also suffered from the inter-communal violence spilling over from neighboring North Kivu province, which has been ravaged by attacks blamed on rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces group, affiliated with Islamic State.
\nThe ADF, originally mainly Muslim Ugandan rebels, have established a presence over the past three decades in eastern DR Congo, killing thousands of civilians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BUNIA Militia fighters on Friday killed more than 20 civilians in a village in the gold-rich Ituri province in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, local residents said. The residents blamed the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (Codeco) militia for the killings. Codeco claims to be fighting for the interests of the Lendu tribe against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414025,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-414006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n