For more than 30 years, the mineral-rich eastern DRC has been a battleground for various armed groups competing for control of its many mines. Two ethnic groups — the Hema and the Lendu — have been locked in a long-running violent conflict in Ituri, a gold-rich province bordering Uganda and South Sudan.

Armed men affiliated with the Codeco militia (Cooperative for the Development of Congo), which claims to protect the Lendu community, carried out attacks in several villages on April 28, local and security sources told AFP, killing at least 69 people.

The attacks followed an  assault by another armed group, the Convention for the Popular Revolution (CRP), which says it fights for the Hema community, on positions held by the FARDC near the locality of Pimbo, the sources said.

More than 70 people were killed when Codeco fighters launched retaliatory attacks in late April, civil society leader Dieudonne Losa told AFP. Speaking on condition of anonymity, two other security sources confirmed the attacks, with one reporting a death toll of at least 69, including 19 militia members and soldiers.

The presence of Codeco fighters delayed the recovery of bodies for several days, the sources added. “Only 25 bodies have been buried,” Losa said on Saturday, noting that several remains had yet to be recovered.

A humanitarian source described bodies “strewn on the ground” near the village of Bassa, one of the targeted areas. (Bssnews)