AFRICA/DR CONGO - More than 50 dead in new massacres in the east of the Country on Christmas Eve

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - Christmas Eve marked by blood in three places in the territory of Beni, in North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to news sent to Agenzia Fides, in the early morning of December 24 the residents of Vemba-Todo/Mavivi, Mukoko/Oïcha, and Mayangos/Assets were attacked by guerrillas of the ADF-Nalu, a group of Ugandan origin, and killed at least 20 civilians.
It is the first time that three places are affected at the same time, point out local commentators, who also denounced the practice of the dismembering of the bodies of victims to sow terror among the population. The ADF-Nalu has acquired in recent years the characterization of a jihadist movement, but according to residents in the region only the last of several armed groups active in the area, supported by local powers and non-Africans, who wreak havoc in order to take advantage of the huge local natural resources.
Another armed group present in the area are the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) who were responsible for the massacre of 33 civilians in three other places in North Kivu. According to information sent to Agenzia Fides, the massacres were perpetrated between 16 and 22 December. Most of those killed were hostages kidnapped before.
In his Urbi et Orbi message, Pope Francis had asked for "peace and harmony for the dear people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and South Sudan so as to ensure, through dialogue, the will to strengthen the common commitment for the building up of civil society animated by a sincere spirit of reconciliation and mutual understanding". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 28/12/2015)

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