At least 70 dead in militia attack in Kinsele,Congo DRC

At least 70 people, including nine soldiers and the wife of a soldier, were killed in a gunmen attack on a village in western Democratic Republic of Congo, according to local authorities. The attack, which is part of escalating violence between two rival communities, occurred on Saturday in the village of Kinsele, about 100 km east of the capital, Kinshasa. Due to the region’s insecurity and poor infrastructure, reports of such deadly attacks can be delayed.

Kinsele is located in Kwamouth territory, where for the past two years, a conflict has raged between the Teke and Yaka communities, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths. While the DRC is also battling armed groups in the east, violence has intensified in the west as well.

The attackers were members of the Mobondo militia, an armed group that claims to defend the Yaka people. “As of this morning (Monday, July 15), 72 bodies have already been recovered, and the search continues for more bodies in the bush,” David Bisaka, Kwamouth Territory MPP, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Security services on the ground are continuing to search for bodies after the army managed to repel the militia for the second time in a week, Bisaka said. The Mobondo militia had first attempted to attack the village on Friday.

After Saturday’s attack, the bodies found included nine soldiers and one woman, the wife of a soldier, according to Stanys Liby, the head of a nearby village, who spoke to U.N.-funded Radio Okapi.

The conflict in Kwamouth territory over land and customary claims erupted in June 2022 between so-called “indigenous” and “non-indigenous” communities, according to Human Rights Watch. Tensions flared over land rights and customary taxes between the Teke, the region’s historical inhabitants, and the Yaka, who have more recently settled near the Congo River.

Despite a ceasefire concluded in April 2024 in the presence of Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, clashes between the two communities have continued and even intensified in recent weeks, with the Congolese army struggling to quell the violence.

The military is also grappling with violence in the east of the country, which has been plagued by decades-long fighting between government forces and more than 120 armed groups seeking a share of the region’s gold and other resources. Violence in the east has worsened in recent months, with security forces battling militias. Earlier this month, a militia attack on a gold mine in northeastern Congo killed six Chinese miners and two Congolese soldiers.