Over 40 persons are killed by communal assaults in western DR Congo

The Congolese army and local officials said that a resurgence of violence between two rival villages in the western Democratic Republic of the Congo has resulted in the deaths of over 40 individuals in the past week.

For the Teke and Yaka communities, the violence is one of the worst since a peace deal was mediated in April to reduce tensions over a land tax dispute that has resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of displaced people since 2022.

A Yaka militia known as Mobondo assaulted the army in Kwango province on Friday, killing two troops and 21 militiamen, according to army spokesperson Antony Mualushayi.

Twelve civilians, primarily women and children, were burned to death in a village as a result of the battle, which set off a wave of community violence in the surrounding region, Mualushayi added in a subsequent statement on Tuesday.

“They locked the victims up in a house and then set it on fire,” Guy Mosomo, who represents this constituency in parliament, told Reuters.
The army reports that eight more Mobondo militants were killed in the battles.

Some traditional chiefs dispute the April agreement, claiming it was exclusive, which has led to ongoing fighting.

Mualushayi told Reuters on Tuesday that representatives of the two communities in Kinshasa, the capital, had also attempted to inflame tensions.

“They want more talks, and since the government is dragging its feet, the others prefer to start launching attacks to force the Congolese government to accept their demands,” he stated.