Rebels open fire on civilians in Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 15 killed

On April 6, officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo said at least 15 people were killed in the northeastern province of Ituri in an attack believed to have been carried out by the armed group Codeco (Cooperation for the Development of Congo).

Innocent Matukadala, the administrative head of Banyali Kilo, where the attack took place, said Codeco gunmen stormed Galay village on the morning of April 6 and opened fire indiscriminately on residents.

The death toll is currently at 15. This number is likely to rise as many people are missing after jumping into the Ituri River to escape the massacre.

Community leaders in the area have asked the government to send reinforcements to repel the rebels, saying Codeco now occupies a large part of the Banyali Kilo area and mines gold to finance its operations.

On April 2, the NGO Action Against Hunger (ACF) announced that it was partially suspending its activities in Ituri, where attacks by the armed groups Codeco and Zaire are taking place.

Dozens of civilians have been killed in Codeco attacks since the beginning of the year. Hundreds of UN peacekeepers have been deployed to Ituri to prevent further violence against civilians.

Codeco is a rebel force operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with thousands of members claiming to defend the Lendu tribe against the Hema tribe, as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo army.

After a decade of relative calm, the conflict in Ituri between the Hema and Lendu tribes has flared up again since late 2017, killing thousands of civilians and forcing more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

The previous conflict between rebel forces left thousands dead from 1999 to 2003, until the intervention of a European force, Operation Artemis, under French command.