25 civilians killed in militia attack in eastern Congo

Fifteen bodies were discovered on Sunday

By Reuters
April 08, 2024
CODECO militiamen and members of the Lendu community attend a meeting with former strongmen in Wadda, Ituri province, northeastern DDRC on September 19, 2020. — AFP
CODECO militiamen and members of the Lendu community attend a meeting with former strongmen in Wadda, Ituri province, northeastern DDRC on September 19, 2020. — AFP

BUNIA, Democratic Republic of Congo: The death toll from an attack in a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province rose to 25 on Sunday, a local chief and civil society leader said, after a government spokesman and a UN document confirmed the attack on Saturday.

The Cooperative for the Development of the Congo (CODECO) group, one of many militias operating in the conflict-ridden east, carried out the killings in the village of Galayi, 70-km northwest of the city of Bunia, they said.

Fifteen bodies were discovered on Sunday, in addition to 10 bodies recovered on Saturday, Banzala Danny, a local chief, and Vital Tungulo, a civil society leader said.