Eighteen people have been killed in an attack in the remote village of northeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) by a notorious ethnic militia, a local official and a civilian campaigner have said.
Innocent Matukadala, head of the Banyali Kilo administrative area in Ituri province, told the AFP news agency that 18 people had been killed by “CODECO militiamen” in Ituri province.
“People are angry. Tensions are high but we are trying to calm things down,” he said.
The assailants used “machetes, arrows, firearms.
“Seven children and six women were among the victims,” said Jean-Robert Basiloko, who represents civil society groups in Banyali Kilo.
Concurring sources say that UN peacekeeping troops and humanitarian groups had left the area, located in Djugu territory, several weeks ago.
