AFRICA/DR CONGO - 35 civilian Hutus massacred in a village in North Kivu

Monday, 28 November 2016 massacres   un  

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - Thirty-five civilians were killed and 28 others injured in an attack perpetrated by the Mai-Mai militiamen at 4.30am on Sunday, November 27 in the village of Luhanga, in the Territory of Lubero, in North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The militiamen, about fifty, were divided into two groups: while the first attacked a post of the Congolese armed forces (FARDC), the other massacred the population. The victims belonged to the Hutu ethnic group.
According to information gathered by Fides, the Indian Blue Helmets of MONUSCO (the UN Mission in the DRC) intervened, killing one militiaman and put an end to the massacre. The UN soldiers then transferred 15 people injured to hospital in Goma.
This is the second attack on Luhanga since the beginning of the year. In the previous attack several homes had been destroyed. The Territory of Lubero is upset by the rivalry between the Landes and Hutu populations. According to information sent to Agenzia Fides by the local NGO CEPADHO, in the days that preceded the assault anonymous threats against the Hutus, many of whom fled from villages in the area, had been disseminated. Those who could not escape remained in Luhanga. CEPADHO counted 120 Hutu families who are displaced in Kanyabayonga where they live in the open. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 28/11/2016)



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