AFRICA/DR CONGO – More massacres in Beni area; civil society starts dialogue

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - “We wish to draw the attention of the international community towards the deadly war and terrorism which is ever more intense in this eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose people need an immediate response” says a report sent to Fides by the Civil Society Coordination Office in North Kivu , following yet another slaughter of innocent civilians by guerrilla fighters of the ADF-Nalu group which originated in Uganda.
According to the information sent to Fides, in the area of Beni during the night of 6 and 7 December, guerrilla fighters attacked three villages killing 37 people. The Congolese army backed by troops of MONUC, the UN Mission in DR Congo, engaged the attackers and 3 of them were reportedly killed. However the same guerrillas running away during the night of 7 and 8 December attacked at least five more villages leaving 13 dead and 50 wounded. The villagers fled, fearing more violence.
The local Civil Society Coordination Office called two days of mourning and announced the start of dialogue with the elders of Butembo-Beni, “so each party may contribute towards stopping this spiral of coldblooded, mortal and systematic violence which is holding the entire population of Beni hostage, in a tight grip of terror, mistrust and extreme confusion”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 9/12/2014)


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