More than 30 died in fighting in DR Congo

Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-15 22:25:21|Editor: xuxin
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BUNIA, DR Congo, April 15 (Xinhua) -- At least thirty-five people were killed Saturday and Sunday in the offensive between the armed forces (FARDC) against the armed group CODECO in several localities in the territory of Djugu, Ituri province in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), army sources said Wednesday.

According to Jules Ngongo, spokesman for the army in this part of the country, the fight took place after several attempted incursions by these heavily armed militiamen who attack different villages committing acts of violence against the civilian population.

Joined by telephone from Ituri where the army continues its offensive against the attackers, Lieutenant Jules Ngongo puts forward a death toll of 35, including two FARDC soldiers and others injured, as well as several weapons recovered by the loyalist forces.

According to civil society in the province of Ituri, the assailants of the CODECO group occupy at least 26 of the 28 localities in the Ndjugu territory, located some 40 km from the city of Bunia, the capital of the province.

On Wednesday in Kinshasa, the Special Representative of the Secretary General in the DRC and head of the UN peacekeeping mission known as MONUSCO, Leila Zerrougui, condemned the killings committed in recent weeks in this territory of Djugu in Ituri, before reiterating the determination of the peacekeepers to support the Congolese army in its efforts.

"Murders, looting, arson, the civilian population is facing particularly brutal and heinous violence, in a province which has already suffered only too much," said Leila Zerrougui, adding that "MONUSCO will not falter in its support to the FARDC against the perpetrators of these abuses, who will be held accountable for their actions ".

The conflicts that have persisted in this part for decades have already pushed 300,000 civilians to leave their homes to take refuge in the camps for the displaced in the town of Bunia and others have crossed the border with Uganda, according to local authorities and humanitarian agencies based in the area.

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