Description

"Thousands of people have been displaced by clashes between government forces and an armed group in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Ituri District, according to civil society and aid workers.

These civilians are spread across several locations 20-100km south of Bunia, Ituri’s main town, including Katoni, Bogoro, Gety, Tchekele, Songolo, and Aveba.

On 23 August, the army launched an offensive in Lendu Bindi against the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Front (FPRI), led by a former army officer who goes by the name of Cobra Matata and which has been present in the area for a decade.

Maj-Gen Claude Kifwa, commander of the ninth military region, said 33 FPRI fighters had been killed and one captured, while three government soldiers had been killed and seven wounded.

The army said it had taken about 10 villages previously occupied by FRPI, including the trading centres of Bavi and Olongba, some 60km south of Bunia.

IRIN.