An armed group linked to a protracted ethnic conflict in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo launched a brutal attack on a camp for displaced people on Friday, resulting in the deaths of at least ten individuals. The assault, which local sources described as savage, targeted the Djangi camp located about 60 kilometers from Bunia, in the Ituri province, a region afflicted by ongoing clashes between the Lendu and Hema communities.
The Lendu group consists primarily of settled farmers, while the Hema are generally nomadic herders. Years of conflict have generated rampant violence that has taken thousands of lives and forced a significant portion of the population to flee their homes.
The attack was attributed to the self-proclaimed Cooperative for the Development of Congo (Codeco), a militia aligned with the Lendu, known for previous acts of violence against civilians. Richard Likana, head of the displaced persons camp, described the scene, stating, “They were many and armed with firearms and machetes. They surprised us, they killed 10 displaced people, most of them women and children.”
A Red Cross employee, who preferred to remain anonymous, corroborated the reports, revealing that victims were attacked both with machetes and firearms. The local administration echoed these figures, confirming that ten people were killed and fifteen others were injured during the attack.
Prior to this incident, Codeco had been implicated in another deadly attack on February 10, where 51 individuals were killed, most of whom were also displaced persons. This earlier assault was reportedly retaliatory in nature, following a strike by the Hema-led Zaire militia in the same area.
The history of violence between these two communities stretches back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, leading to significant bloodshed in the gold-rich Ituri region. The conflict saw a temporary resolution following European military intervention, but hostilities reignited in 2017, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. The United Nations estimates that the violence has displaced more than 1.5 million individuals, underscoring the dire situation faced by civilians caught in the ongoing ethnic strife.
