14 Dead In DR Congo Village Attack

At least 14 civilians were killed in northeastern DR Congo early on Friday when their village was attacked by two armed groups, monitors said.

The deaths occurred in the village of Gina in Ituri province, “during an incursion by the #CODECO-UDPC and ALC” groups, the Kivu Security Tracker (KST) said on Twitter.

“They also attacked #Nizi, in the same territory,” it said.

The assault began at 4:00 am and lasted for seven hours until the armed forces regained control of the area, one of its specialists told AFP, asking not to be identified.

Ituri is one of three eastern provinces in the vast Democratic Republic of Congo battling armed groups.

The gold-rich province has a long history of ethnic feuds, some of which are rooted in long-standing herder-farmer disputes over cattle.

Fighting between the Hema and Lendu communities flared between 1999 and 2003, claiming tens of thousands of lives.

It was quelled by the intervention of a European Union peacekeeping force, Artemis.