World
Militant attack on church worshippers in Congo’s Ituri province kills 14
At least 14 people were killed in the eastern Congolese province of Ituri on Sunday, after militants attacked worshippers praying in a church, a local official and a civil society leader said on Monday.
The Cooperative for the Development of the Congo (CODECO) group, one of many militias operating in the conflict-ridden east, was behind the attack, Djugu territory administrator Ruphin Mapela and civil society leader Dieudonne Lossa told Reuters.
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They said that 9 civilians, 4 assailants and a soldier were killed.
CODECO claims to defend the interests of Lendu farmers, who have long been in conflict with Hema herders.
The CODECO raids have worsened a longstanding humanitarian crisis in Ituri province, where some 3 million people are in desperate need of aid, according to a UN humanitarian agency.
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