Over a dozen killed as militants attack church in eastern DRC

The Cooperative for the Development of the Congo (CODECO) group, one of many militias operating in the conflict-ridden east, was behind the attack on Sunday, TRT World reported citing Djugu territory administrator Ruphin Mapela and civil society leader Dieudonne Lossa on Monday.

Both said that 9 civilians, 4 assailants, and a soldier were killed.

Mapela said that militants attacked Mesa, Cepac, and Aumopro churches located near the shore of Lake Albert in the Bahema-Nord chiefdom.

"We call on the population to remain calm as the armed forces pursue these criminals to put them out of action," Ituri army spokesman Jules Ngongo Tshikudi said.

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.

AMK/PR