By Erikas Mwisi and Yassin Kombi
BUNIA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Armed militants killed more than 35 civilians in an attack on a cluster of villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a village chief and a lawmaker said on Tuesday, with a search for more bodies expected to lift the eventual death toll sharply.
The head of the Djaiba group of villages in Djugu territory in Ituri province, Jean Vianney, said CODECO militants carried out the attack, which started around 8 p.m. on Monday, summarily executing residents and setting houses on fire.
“We have counted more than 35 dead this morning and the search is ongoing. There are people injured, many burnt to death in their homes,” he said.
Floribert Byaruhanga, an MP for Djugu territory, said the death toll currently stood at over 40 and was likely to rise. “Some people were shot, others were beheaded,” he said.
Local civil society leader Jules Tsuba said 49 bodies had been counted so far on Tuesday morning and that the search was continuing.
A Djaiba resident who survived the massacre, Daniel Kisembo, told Reuters he counted 51 bodies, most of them were charred. Some had been decapitated with machetes, he said.
A witness who arrived at the scene on Tuesday morning, Romeo Bahigwa, said he saw 82 bodies.
CODECO is one of a myriad of militias fighting over land and resources in east Congo. It has been accused in the past by the United Nations of attacks against other communities including Hema herders that could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The majority of residents in Djugu territory are Hema.
“The victims are from the Hema community,” Vianney said, adding that Congolese soldiers and U.N. peacekeepers stationed in the area did not intervene.
Provincial army spokesman Jules Ngono said soldiers tried to help but arrived too late to avoid the carnage.
“What happened to the Djaiba group is the worst in terms of the deaths of our people, and we strongly condemn it,” he said via telephone.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo MONUSCO did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A U.N. source who did not wish to be named said peacekeepers had been sent to respond to a separate CODECO attack on a nearby camp for displaced people on Sunday night.
CODECO then moved on to the villages attacked on Monday, which are further away, the source said, adding that the reported death toll was currently between 49 and 55.
(Reporting by Erikas MwisiAdditional reporting by Sonia Rolley Writing by Sofia Christensen and Anait MiridzhanianEditing by Peter Graff, William Maclean)
