Militiamen from the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Nande ethnic group have killed 25 civilians in the country’s violence-torn east, almost all of them hacked to death with machetes, local officials and activists said on Saturday.
“In total 25 people were killed, decapitated by machete by the Mai-Mai Mazembe in and around the village of Kyaghala,” Francis Bakundakabo, the local representative of the governor of North Kivu province, told AFP.
“All of these people were Hutu civilians,” he said, adding that the killings took place between 4am and 8am on Saturday morning.
Hope Kubuya, a local civil society activist whose group went to verify the attack, said 24 of the victims had been killed with machetes and one woman shot dead.
“This raid by the Mai-Mai Mazembe in the Hutu village will enflame the inter-ethnic conflict in the region,” he added.
The Mai-Mai are a “self-defence” militia who count members of the Congo’s Nande, Hunde and Kobo communities among their ranks, in opposition to rivals from the Nyaturu representing ethnic Hutus.
The area around Kyaghala is majority Hutu.
The Congo’s Nande, Hunde and Kobo people largely regard Hutus as foreigners, while the migration north of Hutu farmers – forced to abandon their southern territory due to rising land prices and under pressure from powerful landowners – has added to the strain.
Pope: I strongly feel the pain of the victims, especially the many children ripped from their families and from schools to be used as soldiers.
