DAKAR, Senegal—At least 32 civilians have been killed by rebel groups in eastern Congo’s Ituri province, said a spokesman for the United Nations.
Twenty people were killed by the militia group CODECO and a dozen were killed by the Allied Democratic Forces, which is allied to the ISIS terrorist group, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a press conference on Monday.
Calling the situation “confusing,” Dujarric said it is hard for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo to get more information due to restricted movement in the area.
Fighting between CODECO, a loose association of various ethnic Lendu militia groups, and Zaire, a mainly ethnic Hema self-defense group, has been ongoing since 2017 but has worsened recently. At least 32 civilians were killed by CODECO last month, say local officials. In December, the United Nations said the insurgent group was expanding its areas of control, attacking civilians and Congo’s military, and taxing communities in the areas that it holds….