Armed militants killed 51 civilians during an attack on a cluster of villages in eastern DR Congo's Ituri province on Monday night, an MP and a member of civil society said on Tuesday, February 11. The head of the Djaiba group of villages in Djugu territory, Jean Vianney, said CODECO militants carried out the attack, which started around 8pm, summarily executing residents and setting houses on fire, Reuters reported. Floribert Byaruhanga, an MP for Djugu territory, said the death toll, including 18 children, currently stood at 51. Lists from a civil society group in Ituri showed that 51 people were killed overnight from Monday to Tuesday. A Djaiba resident who survived the massacre, Daniel Kisembo, told Reuters he counted 51 bodies, most of them charred. ALSO READ: DR Congo militia massacre 45 in Ituri CODECO is one of a myriad of militias fighting over land and resources in eastern DR Congo, and committing ethnic-motivated violence. The militia has been accused in the past by the United Nations of attacks against other communities including Hema herders that could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The majority of residents in Djugu territory are Hema. ALSO READ: ADF militia kill 24 in new attack in eastern DR Congo The victims are from the Hema community, Vianney said, adding that Congolese soldiers and UN peacekeepers stationed around 3 kilometres did not intervene. The Congolese army and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo MONUSCO did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
