At least 14 people were killed in a machete attack by suspected Ugandan rebels in the Beni region in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), where nearly 100 civilians have already been slain, a nongovernmental group said on Thursday.
The incursion took place overnight in the town of Kampi ya Chui.
“It is a heavy toll: 14 people massacred by machetes,” said Teddy Kataliko, head of civil society in the Beni region.
Congolese authorities did not confirm the toll, saying instead that they were aware of the attack — suspected to be by the Ugandan rebel group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) — and that it left “several dead.”
“I know that there have been several deaths and one of the rebels has been captured,” said Congolese Minister of the Interior Richard Muyej, who was visiting the city of Beni.
North Kivu Provincial Governor Julien Paluku said that there was a need for confirmation on the deaths, as there was “a lot of contradictory information” coming from the attack area.
About two weeks ago, suspected ADF Ugandan rebels were accused of having massacred about 80 people in the region, including women and children, with some decapitated despite the presence of the Congolese army and peacekeepers from the UN mission to the DR Congo, known as MONUSCO.
Amid the escalating violence, Congolese President Joseph Kabila traveled to Beni and met on Thursday with different groups.
“Civil society is calling for an urgent solution by relaunching military operations,” Kataliko said.
Earlier in the year, the army and MONUSCO forces had been successful in weakening the Ugandan rebel group.
The Ugandan rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces and National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU) have been accused of a string of atrocities since they were chased into the neighboring DR Congo by Uganda’s army in the 1990s.
The rebels — accused of serious human rights violations including using child soldiers — reportedly finance themselves by trafficking gold and wood. Beni is a major hub for wood destined for Uganda.
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