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Militia clashes with police in DR Congo, 19 killed

Sunday, 14 August 2016 10:24 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 14 August 2016 10:30 AM ]

A file photo taken on March 11, 2014 shows government troops working in an area taken from rebels near Tongo, north of Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Photo by AFP)

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo say 19 people have been killed in clashes between police and militia groups in the African country.

Alex Kande, the governor of Kasai-Central Province in the DR Congo, said on Saturday that the clashes occurred in the town of Tshimbulu in he province.

He said that the leader of the militia group, Kamwina Nsapu, was among those killed.

Kande said the fighting erupted “following an intervention by security forces who sought to protect and safeguard the peaceful citizens of Tshimbulu,” before being “dangerously attacked by terrorists of leader Kamwina Nsapu.”

The governor said 11 policemen had also lost their lives in the deadly assault.

Kande further said that four other policemen were missing and about 40 militia members had been captured, including 17 children aged between five and 12.

In a separate development, about 30 civilians have been killed in a massacre in the restive east of the DR Congo.

The rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces-National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU) are suspected of being behind the attack.

The ADF-NALU rebel group, which was founded in Uganda in 1995 and later moved to the DR Congo, is believed to have roughly 400 members and has been accused of committing serious human rights violations, including recruiting child soldiers and rape.

ADF-NALU and dozens of other armed groups have been active in the eastern DR Congo since the 1996-2003 Congo wars. The Congolese army, joined by UN troops, is on the offensive against the rebel group.

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