At least 43 people were killed during the three-day clashes between government troops and armed groups in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Intelligence revealed that the armed militants attack civilians with guns, knives as well as other crude weapons in several villages.
The deadliest clash occurred on Friday when attackers armed with guns and knives killed 21 civilians in Mahagi, according to the senior regional official in the eastern Ituri province.
Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militants killed at least six people in Malambo, near the eastern town of Beni in North Kivu province. ADF which is currently under the Islamic State Central Africa province (ISCAP) has been conducting numerous and similar attacks in North Kivu where thousands of residents have been displaced.
Elsewhere, At least 16 people were killed in clashes between the soldiers and Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) a militia group in the country’s gold-rich north-eastern province of Ituri. The clashes took place in the villages of Kabakaba, Esasi, and Lisey in Djugu territory.
DRC has been battling various armed militias, separatist groups as well as jihadists like the ADF with their attacks causing the deaths of hundreds of civilians while displacing thousands of others. Additionally, in Ituri conflict between the Lendu, mainly farmers, and the Hema, herders, and traders, has a long history in the gold and oil-rich province.
