At Least 10 Dead as Congo Army Chases Rebels in Country’s East

(Bloomberg) -- At least 10 people were killed when rebels attacked an eastern town in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sparking clashes with the national army, the military said

Suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces raided an area of Beni overnight, shooting dead eight civilians and a soldier, according to Guillaume Ndjike, an army spokesman in North Kivu province. Soldiers killed one militant and are pursuing the others, he said by phone.

Attacks by armed men in Congo’s northeast have claimed more than 700 lives since 2014, with the government and the United Nations mission in the country blaming the ADF, a rebel group originally from Uganda that has operated on Congo’s border since the late 1990s. UN experts, however, say that Congolese recruits and other local militias, sometimes supported by Congolese army officers, have also been involved.

Human Rights Watch last week urged the International Criminal Court to investigate the killings.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ignatius Ssuuna in Kigali at issuuna@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.