27 civilians killed in eastern DRC this week : UN

Kathmandu : Armed groups in Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have killed at least 27 civilians so far this week, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.

The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO, reported that the situation in Djugu territory is tense after raids by members of a coalition of armed groups known as CODECO killed at least 27 people since last weekend, said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Supporting the Congolese army, UN peacekeepers conducted patrols in the Roe-Drodo area to protect civilians, Dujarric said.

“This (Thursday) morning, they responded to an exchange of fire between the Congolese army and CODECO in the village of Djodjo,” he said. “Members of the armed group fled into the forest. Similarly, UN peacekeepers and the Congolese forces on patrol yesterday (Wednesday) averted another attack by CODECO.”The spokesman said peacekeepers also escorted some civilians back to the site for displaced people in Roe.

The acronym CODECO describes a coalition of armed groups terrorizing Ituri, one of the easternmost provinces in the DRC’s mineral-rich east. While they are variously self-described as the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, Congo Economic Development Cooperative or by similar terms, they are routinely referred to as members of CODECO.