Eleven dead in clashes between armed groups in DRC

BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo

At least 11 people have been killed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in ongoing clashes between armed groups, according to local sources and NGOs.

The upsurge of fighting by armed groups and militias has gripped the eastern DRC since August.

Local sources spoke to Anadolu Agency revealing that seven rebels from neighboring Rwanda, three Mai-Mai insurgents and one civilian were killed.

According to the Study Centre for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights (CEPADHO), an NGO based in Kivu, the three-hour clashes, between Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Mai Mai (local armed group),  took place in the village of Buleusa in Walikale territory in North Kivu province.

These two groups vie to gain control of certain localities in the area of ​​North Kivu. Still, the Congolese army controls nearly70% of the territory.

The operation of the Congolese army against the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), and other armed groups, including local Mai-Mai, engaged since the beginning of the year, aiming to neutralize the rebels who often attack civilians in the area.

France also announced Wednesday the deployment of 300 Special Forces troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to provide training.

The country’s east has been wracked by violence for the past two decades, much of it fuelled by Rwandan rebels as well as fighters opposed to Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni.