Further clashes as FDLR Rwandan rebels kill eight in DRC

T.J. Kirkpatrick/Reuters

By

Darell Maurice

It was during a raid carried out by the Rwandan rebels, on Monday evening that the massacre was perpetrated.

The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, FDLR, entered by the city suburbs before infiltrating the centre of Greater Kibizi in the Congolese town of Rutshuru in the province of North Kivu.

The provisional toll of the attack reported eight deaths in the ranks of civilians, three wounded and eleven residential houses burned by the rebels.

Had it not been for the intervention of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, FARDC, the damage would be more formidable than that. The attackers were driven out of town by the army, wh0 now control the situation.

Until midday Tuesday, the bodies had not been removed and lay on the ground for all to see. Most of the population has evacuated the village.

Meanwhile, the men, who went to the cemetery to dig graves to bury those killed, were chased by unknown gunmen who fired bullets. The FARDC were dispatched then and have been in pursuit of these outlaws.

Note that among the eight deceased, there are four Hutu and four Nande. They were either shot or beheaded. Many died as they attempted to flee the burning of their homes.

The Study Centre for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights, CEPADHO, condemning the massacre urged the FARDC to be present in the area to track down any FDLR rebel troops and to deploy in large numbers throughout the region to reassure the population.

Darell Maurice

Darell Maurice is a Journalist based in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital city Kinshasa and works for Canal7kintv.