Five civilians and three soldiers are dead following an attack by
rebels on a Congolese army camp near Beni in the volatile North Kivu province
in the east of the country.
The killings are being blamed on Ugandan rebels of the Allied
Democratic Forces (ADF), who are accused of murdering around 400 people in nine
months of massacres in and around the major eastern trading hub of Beni.
The mainly Muslim rebels attacked the military camp with automatic
weapons before being driven back after several hours of fighting, according to a
senior army officer.
Some 20 homes nearby were also burned down during the raid.
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| Congolese government soldiers have been blamed for not protecting people from the ADF |
Most of the ADF's victims have been hacked to death with machetes in
atrocities that prompted a joint operation by the Congolese army and UN troops
in December to root out the rebels, who used the then war-torn country as a
base to launch an insurgency in neighbouring Uganda against President Yoweri
Museveni in the mid-1990s.
The local population has accused the government of President Joseph
Kabila of failing to protect them and angry street protests in Beni have often
turned violent.
The region's Catholic bishops have also been critical of Kinshasa,
saying that "security, peace and territorial integrity do not seem to be
priorities for the authorities."
The ADF’s self-proclaimed leader, Jamil Mukulu, was recently
arrested crossing into Tanzania from DR Congo but his extradition to Uganda,
where he is wanted for murder and rape, has been delayed pending an appeal and
his arrest has not stemmed killings by the ADF.