Four people were killed in community violence in a remote area in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where more than 200 houses were also set on fire, local government sources learned on Saturday.
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Four people were killed in the attack on Djombo village.
There were also five injured.
205 houses were set on fire, 12 of which were completely destroyed,
”Luc Munyanga, administrator of the Basankusu territory (Ecuador, north-west) told AFP.
The attack took place on Wednesday and the army was called in to reinforce the area because the police, in limited numbers, were overwhelmed, Munyanga said.
About ten people are currently being arrested by the courts.
The Djombo village was attacked, in retaliation for protests by members of the Mongo minority community who live there, after the rehabilitation of a sector chief from the Ngombe community, according to witnesses interviewed by phone by AFP.
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With more than 200 houses burned down, we can say that the Djombo village is razed to the ground.
Its population is currently on the run, teachers have fled into the forest with children to protect them,
”Sam Bokolombe, national elected representative of Basankusu territory, told AFP by phone, calling for“
emergency humanitarian intervention
” authorities and humanitarians.
In this sector of 13 villages, only one is inhabited by the Mongo community against 12 villages where members of the majority Ngombe community are settled.
Despite regularly reported disputes over land to cultivate their fields, this is the first time that violence of this magnitude has been recorded.
Access to these landlocked villages in northeastern DRC is difficult because of the impassable state of the roads.
