By RFIPosted on 16-11-2019Modified on 16-11-2019 at 16:46

At least 14 civilians were killed the night of Friday to Saturday in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The attack occurred in the Beni region of North Kivu province.

The 14 people were killed one kilometer apart, in the region of Beni, more precisely in the locality of Mbau. It is in this province of North Kivu that the army says it has been conducting, since last month, major operations against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) , Ugandan rebel group established in the DRC.

Joined by RFI, Teddy Kataliko, a civil society leader in Beni, believes that there is no doubt and that it is indeed a reprisal attack, in response to the offensive led by the Congolese army .

" The people of Mbau were surprised by a group of attackers who made an incursion into their home. As usual, the procedure is almost the same: they operated by ax and machete by cutting off several civilians or banging the children's heads against the walls. It's a cruel way, a way to scare people. They disguise themselves with police uniforms and FARDC [Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo] outfits, but also with civilian clothes. What is confusing is that by seeing them, we can think that it is soldiers, FARDC, who are on patrols, "he said before adding that the consequences, today is that " the entire population is moving from East to West " and that all major cities such as Oicha, Eringeti, Kokola and Mbau are emptied of their population.

Talking about the attackers, Teddy Kataliko points to the ADF. " We are referring to the ADFs who are in disarray. These are indeed reprisals. Since their bases have been destroyed, that is how they go much further north to attack the civilian population, but also to signal their presence. It is therefore a demonstration of strength, "says the head of the civil society of Beni.

    On the same subject

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    DRC: insecurity in Beni empties neighborhoods of their inhabitants

    DRC: Population exasperated by insecurity in Beni calls for army

    DRC: In the Beni territory, the scourge of insecurity still reigns

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