Armed rebels have killed 15 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s troubled Ituri province, local sources said on Sunday, in the second such attack in days.
The sources said the CODECO (Cooperative for the Development of the Congo) militia, which claims to defend the interests of the Lendu ethnic group, again targeted people from the rival Hema tribe.
CODECO fighters ambushed users of a road near the village of Tali where they stopped 15 people, including one woman, on Saturday afternoon, said Jules Tsuba, a civil society leader in Djugu, a town in the area.
The militiamen tied them up and undressed them before killing them while some victims “had their throats cut, others were shot dead”, he said.
According to a humanitarian source, “the bodies of the victims bear the marks of torture”.
Ruphin Mapela, the territory’s administrator, confirmed the toll of 15 dead and said the attack came after months of peace.
CODECO was among several Congolese armed groups that signed a peace deal last year after negotiations in Nairobi. The United Nations has said there are as many as 120 armed groups in eastern DRC.