At least 69 people have been killed in militia attacks in Ituri province in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local and security sources said, in the latest wave of violence to hit the mineral-rich region.
The attacks were reportedly carried out on April 28 by armed men affiliated with the Cooperative for the Development of Congo, CODECO, a coalition of militias that claims to defend the Lendu community. Local sources said the assaults targeted several villages after fighters from another armed group, the Convention for the Popular Revolution, CRP, attacked Congolese army positions near Pimbo in Djugu territory.
Civil society leader Dieudonné Losa said more than 70 people were killed in what he described as retaliatory attacks. Two security sources also confirmed the violence, with one putting the death toll at at least 69, including 19 militia members and soldiers. Recovery of the bodies was delayed for several days because CODECO fighters remained in the area, local sources said.
Losa said only 25 bodies had been buried by Saturday and that several more remained unrecovered. A humanitarian source described bodies lying near the village of Bassa, one of the areas targeted.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, MONUSCO, said it rescued nearly 200 people caught under fire during the April 28 CRP assault on FARDC positions in Pimbo. The mission said clashes also broke out between CRP fighters and CODECO militiamen in the same area.
MONUSCO later condemned what it called a recent wave of deadly attacks against civilians in eastern Congo, where armed groups continue to exploit weak state authority, local grievances and competition over land and mineral resources.
Ituri has long been plagued by conflict between armed groups linked to the Hema and Lendu communities. CODECO says it protects Lendu interests, while the CRP says it fights for the Hema community. The province, which borders Uganda and South Sudan, is rich in gold and has suffered repeated massacres, displacement and militia violence.
The region also faces attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces, an armed group originally formed by Ugandan rebels and now linked to the Islamic State group.
Rights advocates say overstretched Congolese forces have struggled to protect civilians as the government also battles M23 rebels in North and South Kivu. The latest killings underline the widening security crisis in eastern Congo, where civilians remain exposed to competing militias, weak protection and recurring cycles of revenge attacks.
