At least 19 people are killed and many injured in two separate eastern attacks in DR Congo

Concerned authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed the killing of at least 19 civilians in the restive eastern part of the country in two separate attacks by armed militants.

Local officials said on Sunday that no fewer than nine people were kidnapped on Friday by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), and their bodies were found in the province of North Kivu.

One of the local officials identified as Bananilao Tchabi said that in the neighbouring Ituri region, ADF fighters attacked the village of Bukaka late on Saturday and killed 10 civilians.

Civil society leader Raphael Bon Benogo said the victims were five men, three women and two children. “Some were killed with machetes and others with firearms,” he added.

In another incident on Saturday in Fizi, in South Kivu province, gunmen from a “coalition of armed groups” attacked an army unit, killing two soldiers, a local army spokesman said.

Source: Ripples Nigeria