At least five people including two children were killed and several others injured by "
bandits
" on Saturday in a village on the outskirts of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region plagued by a rebellion where weapons abound , we learned from local sources.
These five civilians, members of two families, were shot dead during the night in the village of Bugamba 2, in the territory of Nyiragongo, said Kanane Ndyanabo, leader of the "group" targeted, and Mambo Kawaya, president of the
company
. civilian of the territory.
In one household, “
a dad, his wife and his child
” died, and in the other house, it was “
the dad and his child
,” Kawaya said.
Four seriously injured were hospitalized, he added.
"
We managed to capture three bandits and a fourth was wounded with a machete by the population
," said Mr. Ndyanabo, without being able to specify what motivated these attacks.
Mr. Kawaya, for his part, points to “
a movement nicknamed 40 thieves
” and adds that “
it is not the first time
” that families have been attacked in this way.
Many armed men are circulating in the region, he said, including soldiers who left the areas occupied by the M23 rebels and are now quartered in Nyiragongo territory.
The village of Bugamba is under the control of loyalist forces and armed groups, the rebellion being positioned about twenty km away.
Read alsoDRC: withdrawal of M23 rebels from certain villages, questions about a lull
The M23 (“
March 23 Movement
”), backed by Rwanda according to Kinshasa and UN experts, has conquered large swaths of territory in the province of North Kivu since last year, of which Goma is the chief. -place.
An umpteenth ceasefire was supposed to come into effect on March 7 but is not respected.