By Anadolu Reporter
KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – More than 50 people, including nine government soldiers, were killed in clashes between militiamen and the Congolese army in a village in the western Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official said Monday.
The clashes between soldiers and a militia group called Mobondo occurred in the village of Kinsele in the territory of Kwamouth, northeast of the capital Kinshasa, in the province of Mai-Ndombe on Saturday, the chief of the neighboring Kikomo village, Stanys Liby, told news site Media Congo.
Liby said the dead included nine Congolese soldiers and 41 militiamen.
The army was yet to comment on the clashes.
But the bodies of the soldiers were transported to the morgues of Kinshasa, according to the provincial legislator of Kwamouth, David Bisaka, who also confirmed the death toll to local media.
Some reports said the fighting broke out after Mobondo launched an attack on the army position at Kinsele. But others indicated clashes erupted after government troops launched an offensive following incursions by the militiamen around Kinsele.
The Mobondo, part of the Yaka community mainly farmers, settled in areas along the Congo River, where the Teke people consider themselves the rightful owners of villages along the river.
A conflict over land and customary claims in western Congo erupted in June 2022 between so-called “native” and “non-native” communities leading to the killing and displacements of hundreds, according to Human Rights Watch.
In June last year, violence broke out after the group calling itself Mobondo targeted Teke villagers with machetes and military assault rifles.
Congolese security forces conducted operations but failed to quell the violence.