A militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least 60 people in an attack on a displaced persons’ camp, according to local officials and aid workers.
Fighters with the group known as CODECO arrived at the Plaine Savo shelter in Djugu, eastern Ituri province, in the early hours of Wednesday morning and killed dozens of people using machetes and other weapons, said Ndalo Budz, who is the head of the camp.
"We currently have 60 people in the shelters for the displaced who were killed with machetes and other edged weapons," he told local media. Administrative officials in the province confirmed the account.
CODECO fighters have killed hundreds of civilians in Ituri in recent years and forced thousands to flee their homes, according to the United Nations. Recent attacks have also targeted displaced persons camps.
"I first heard cries when I was still in bed. Then several minutes of gunshots. I fled and I saw torches and people crying for help and I realized it was the CODECO militiamen who had invaded our site," said Lokana Bale Lussa, a camp resident.
"We have counted more than 60 dead and (more) seriously injured," he said.
Charite Banza Bavi, president of the local humanitarian group for the Bahema-North area, put the death toll at 63.
The Savo displacement site was home to about 4,000 people in December, according to the UN migration agency.
DRC’s army condemned the CODECO militiamen for attacking civilians displaced by war and denounced their action as crimes against humanity.
Army spokesman Jules Ngongo sought to assure people that the army would pursue and punish the perpetrators."We condemn this criminal, terrorist act to attack the displaced where there is an innocent civilian population who has no means of defense, it is worse than madness and cowardice and it is a crime against humanity. These perpetrators will be severely punished," he said.
The security situation remains worrying in several villages in the territory of Djugu, where civilians have been killed by CODECO rebels despite joint operations by the Ugandan army and Congo.
Reuters / AP
