DR Congo: At least 30 people killed in ethnic violence
At least 30 people have been killed in two days of clashes between Hema herders and farmers from the Lendu ethnic group in Ituri province, local authorities say.
At least 30 people were killed in two days of clashes between Hema herders and farmers of the Lendu ethnic group in Ituri province, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local authorities said on February 5.
Ituri Governor Jefferson Abdallah Penembaka said the conflict between the two ethnic groups had left 30 to 32 people dead, many others injured, thousands of houses burned and thousands of people forced to flee their homes. The government had to increase the presence of the military and security forces to help stabilize the situation.
The recent bloody violence echoes the escalation of conflict between 1998 and 2003, when thousands of Hema and Lendu killed each other in Ituri province after years of peaceful coexistence between the two groups. Congo has been in increasing turmoil since President Joseph Kabila refused to step down when his term ended in December 2016.
President Kabila's decision has sparked several uprisings and raised concerns that the vast, mineral-rich nation could return to civil war./.
