At least 14 dead in a new series of attacks by CODECO militias in northeast DRC

March 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –

A wave of attacks by the Congo Development Cooperative (CODECO) militias have left at least 14 dead in six towns in the province of Ituri, in the northeast of the country, local sources have confirmed to Radio Okapi.

All the attacks took place late on Saturday in villages in the Mahagi territory and among the dead are women and children, some of them hacked to death, according to the accounts of survivors and local civil society officials.

Before withdrawing, the assailants set fire to a dozen homes and took various belongings.

The attacks have caused an exodus of the population to centers in the nearby towns of Luga and Sii, amid “a total paralysis of activities in the surrounding towns and shopping centers.”