Fearing new rebel attacks, thousands flee DR Congo town

MANGINA, DR Congo: Mangina, a town of some 72,000 in DR Congo´s volatile east, was eerily empty on Tuesday after a massacre last week by a dreaded rebel group which locals fear will strike again.

On Friday, fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) slit the throats of eight people in Mangina, sparking panic and an exodus. Two days later a force of about 60 ADF members killed two women and five men at nearby Makeke.

On Tuesday, shops and markets were shuttered in Mangina, where the only signs of life were some patrolling soldiers, policemen and Red Cross officials. Three armoured vehicles of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, were stationed on the outskirts of the town, keeping watch over panicked residents fleeing their homes.

Mamie Lolita, a mother of six in her 40s, was one of the many women and children leaving their homes for the relative safety of the nearby city of Beni, carrying their meagre belongings in sacks.

Her youngest child aged four was barefoot and carrying a jerry can with five litres of water on her head. "My husband and our two boys have stayed behind to look after our livestock," Lolita said. "We are going on foot to Beni to avoid being massacred by the ADF who are prowling in our fields."