Militia attack kills at least 69 in Eastern Congo

A militia attack k!lled at least 69 people in Ituri province in the conflict-torn northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, local and security sources told AFP Saturday.

For more than 30 years, the mineral-rich eastern DRC has been a battleground between various armed groups, vying for control of its many mines.

Armed men affiliated with the Codeco militia (Cooperative for the Development of Congo), which claims to protect the Lendu, carried out attacks in several villages on April 28, local and security sources told AFP, k!lling at least 69 people.

The lack of security in the zone delayed the recovery of the bodies for several days. 

Security sources put the toll at 69 de@d, but a local civil protection official, Dieudonne Losa, told AFP that more than 70 people had been killed.

 Earlier on Saturday, the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo warned of a “de@dly” wave of attacks in the country’s restive east targeting civilians. 

“Dozens of civilians have been killed in recent days” in areas in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, MONUSCO said, without elaborating. 

The mineral-rich eastern DRC has been plagued for three decades by conflict involving various armed groups, militia, and army troops.