DRC: 270 dead in tribal clashes
2009-12-29 22:04
Kinshasa - Inter-tribal clashes that raged over two months in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo killed 270 people, the Congolese government said on Tuesday.
Fighting broke out in late October between two tribes, the Lobala and the Bombona, in a dispute over rich fishing waters in Dongo, 200km south of Gemena, the main town in the Sud-Oubangui district.
"The outcome of this macabre adventure is that over 187 civilians were killed in cold blood by Udjani," Congolese Communication Minister Lambert Mende told reporters, referring to the witch doctor that led the Lobala faction.
He added that the Bombona lost 82 men when DR Congo forces intervened to break up the fighting in mid-December.
The 600-strong unit of commando reinforcements wrested back control of the Dongo region on December 13.
Some 150 000 people fled the violence, half of them crossing the Oubangui river into the neighbouring Republic of Congo, where they had access to humanitarian aid, unlike those still in the DR Congo.
Mende said the refugees could now return to their villages "without fear", adding that order had now been restored and that humanitarian aid would be provided.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is troubled by several active armed groups, an undisciplined army and crumbling infrastructure after years of war and mismanagement.
Between two and three million people are believed to have died in 10 years of warfare, either directly in conflict or through starvation and disease, according to non-governmental organisations.
- SAPA