Militia kills at least 60 people at shelter in Congo

Militiamen attacked a camp for people fleeing violence in Congo's eastern Ituri province overnight, killing at least 60 people staying at the shelter, local officials said Wednesday. Fighters with the group known as CODECO arrived at the Plaine Savo displaced persons site in Djugu where they used machetes and other weapons to kill dozens of people, said Ndalo Budz, who is the head of the camp.

"We currently have 60 people in the shelters for the displaced who were killed with machetes and other edged weapons," he said to local press.

Local administrative officials confirmed the account.


Four people have been brought to the hospital, according to Pilo Mulindo, the head of the chiefdom of Bahema N'adhere.

The CODECO militia and the Allied Democratic Forces are active in the eastern Congo region and have killed dozens last year.

The violence has caused the suspension of humanitarian agencies in this part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.