Ituri: several dead others seriously injured in a new attack by suspected Zaire militiamen in Djugu

Nine civilians were killed and at least thirty-nine others seriously injured in an incursion on Monday February 6. The attack is blamed on the Zaire armed group in the village -Dyambu. It is in the Dz’na groupment in the Walendu Pitsi sector in the territory of Djugu, in the province of Ituri, eastern DRC. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The resolute associative coalition for the defense of human rights (COARDHO) says the victims were from work at around 7: 30 others were at home.

“We have so far counted 9 civilians killed and 39 seriously injured. This is the official toll of the massacre in the groupment of Dz’na, locality of Dyambu, whose perpetrators remain assailants of the Zaire militia”, said Benjamin Ngabu, the organisation’s coordinator.

COARDHO denounces that the army didn’t intervene, which facilitated the job to the gunmen who “carried out their operation easily in this village”.

It recommends the provincial and national authorities to arrange funerals for the victims and pay medical treatments for survivors.

Djugu is one of the territories in the province of Ituri, the scene of armed violence.

In its monitoring report for January, the civil society – provincial coordination of Ituri reported a total of at least 80 civilians killed during incursions and abuses by local and foreign armed groups for one month only.

The Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that about 35,000 people from around the locality of Drodro, in Djugu, left for the site for the displaced in Rhoo since January 8, 2023.

The site now has 70 thousand people according to the report of the United Nations agency, published on January 19th.

In the site, bad conditions affect particularly the most vulnerable who have urgent needs, like food, shelter, and other supplies including water, etc.

Since December 2017, armed violence amid community tensions has continued to drive people to displacement in Djugu.

Before, more than 680 thousand people representing 45% of all the displaced in the whole province of Ituri, were forced to move inside this territory, indicates OCHA.