AFRICA/CONGO DR - New massacres in Beni, the people are exasperated and protest in the streets

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - Massacres in Beni, North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo continue, despite the visit of President Joseph Kabila in the city in order to reassure the people, terrified by the violence of the ADF-Nalu guerrillas (see Fides 17/10/2014).
According to the local press, on Sunday, November 2, 14 people, including two soldiers were killed near the parish of Gustave de Beni-Paida, in the municipality of Ruwenzori.
The new massacre provoked the anger of the people who took to the streets, clashing with police after having set fire to the flags of the parties of the presidential majority and destroyed the statue of President Joseph Kabila, who had come to Beni on October 29.
According to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the DRC, about 100 people were killed last month by "suspected Ugandan ADF rebels". The serious situation in the area had been reported on October 17 by His Exc. Mgr. Melchisédech Sikuli Paluku, Bishop of Butembo-Beni. In recent months, the Congolese army, along with the peacekeepers of MONUC (the UN Mission in the DRC), had managed to put under control the main guerrilla groups in the area, particularly the M23, but the resurgence of the actions of Ugandan rebels has made the population sink back in despair. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 05/11/2014)