Published on : 01/01/2021 – 22:26
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The year 2020 was marked by the continuation of regular attacks against civilian populations in eastern DRC. It ended with a bloodbath on December 31 in the territory of Beni, North Kivu. The administration says it has recovered 17 bodies from the scene, civil society counts at least 22 dead.
It is a little after 9 a.m. this Thursday morning when the armed men arrive in Tingwe. For about 3 hours, they will sow death in the fields surrounding this village and the neighboring one of Kamungu. Many peasants are massacred and beheaded with machetes.
Some manage to escape, like Jules, contacted by RFI correspondent in Swahili Ericksson Luhembwe: “ I was returning from my field in Tingwe when I came across these assassins. I ran away of course! They were in very dirty military clothes. I saw that their uniform did not have any insignia. They started chasing me. Besides, my children were with their grandmother. They were able to flee, but the grandmother was caught. After the attack, they counted around 20 bodies, including that of the grandmother. All the peasants returning from the fields were attacked. »
Jules, survivor of the attack in Tingwe
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Alerted by survivors, soldiers from the DRC Armed Forces arrived on site in the afternoon. For the local authorities, there is no doubt that the attackers are ADF who continue their attacks in a position of reprisals against the operations carried out by MONUSCO and the Congolese army.
However, according to a civil society official, operations had largely declined in recent times. The FARDC had not received the necessary support for the continuation of the last phase of Operation Soukola launched in October 2020.
1,135 civilians killed in the territory of Beni
The Study Center for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights (CEPADHO), a local civil society organization, counted 1,135 civilians killed in the territory of Beni between early December 2019 and the end of November 2020.
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