North-East DRC: in Ituri, a dozen hostages executed by militias
[Illustrative image] Members of the URDPC/CODECO armed group pass through the village of Linga on January 13, 2022, in Ituri province, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. AFP - ALEXIS HUGUET
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In the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a dozen people taken hostage on March 25, 2023 were executed on March 26 about forty kilometers from Bunia, the capital of Ituri. The vehicle they were in was ambushed by the URDPC militia, a faction of the Codeco armed group.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the security situation is further deteriorating in Ituri. A dozen people taken hostage on March 25, 2023 were executed the next day about forty kilometers from Bunia, the capital of the province, according to local sources. The renewed violence comes in a province facing attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and other armed groups.
The kidnapped civilians came from Bunia and were on their way to the mining town of Mungwalu.
The vehicle they were in was ambushed by the Union des révolutionnaires pour la défense du peuple congolais (URDPC), a faction of the Codeco (Cooperative for the Development of Congo) armed group.
Customary and military sources do not agree on the exact number of hostages. They confirm, however, that they were executed in circumstances which, at least, remain to be clarified.
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In its last report, the UN Group of Experts on the DRC reported that the URDPC continued to consolidate its influence over other Codeco factions and to strengthen in the province.
For its part, the army warns of the communitarization of the conflict.
Military sources provide information that this latest Codeco operation would be part of the reprisals.
This armed movement is said to have acted following another series of hostage-taking incidents carried out in recent days by the Zaire militia, whose members are mainly from a community considered to be rivals.
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