More than 3,300 dead in Congo in eight months of violence
The Roman Catholic church reports that fighting between security forces and tribal militias causes 1.3-million to flee their homes
Kinshasa — More than 3,000 people have been killed in eight months of spiralling violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s troubled central region of Kasai, a report by the Roman Catholic church says. According to figures compiled by the church and listed in a report by the papal envoy, a copy of which was seen by AFP on Tuesday, some 3,383 people have died in violence between security forces and a tribal militia. The peacekeeping mission, the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco), had previously spoken of "more than 400 dead" while about 1.3-million people are estimated to have fled their homes in the Kasai provinces. The papal envoy’s note, June 19, said that 20 villages have been "completely destroyed", 10 of them by the Congo’s armed forces (FARDC), four by the tribal militias and six by unidentified forces. It mentioned 30 mass graves, while Monusco has spoken of 42. The violence began last year when Kamwina Nsa...
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