AFRICA/DR CONGO - New inter-community violence in North Kivu

Monday, 8 February 2016 armed groups  

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - Clashes continue between the Hutu and Nande communities in the territory of Lubero, in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. According to information sent to Agenzia Fides, on February 5 some Nande farmers were attacked while they were working in their fields by a Hutu group, near the town of Kasiki. Most of the men managed to escape, but several women were injured with machetes, two severely injured.
The Nande responded by burning the homes of the Hutu in Kasiki. The latter fled en masse from the village and took refuge in the village of Luhanga. The Nande minority was expelled from this village. In turn, the Nande women and children left Kasiki and have taken refuge in Kayne and Kirumba.
The clash between the two groups exploded again in January, when in the village of Miriki at least 14 Nande were killed by Hutu militias of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a group of Rwandan origin, present in the region for about 20 years.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since then more than 21,000 people have fled from Miriki. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 08/02/2016)


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