At Least Six Dead In Renewed Kwamouth Violence

At least six people were killed during an attack on the village of Kisia in Bagata territory of Kwilu province on November 2, the government has confirmed.

Several houses were burnt down by the assailants and the village is now almost empty as most of the inhabitants have fled into the bushes.

Most of the dead are unidentified but officials said a teacher is thought to be among them.

The governor of Bagata territory, Joseph Mankoto, who confirmed the death toll said the assailants, who are yet to be positively identified, have already started collecting ‘taxes’ from the few inhabitants remaining in the zone.

“Once again, an umpteenth attack on the village of Kisia which is 25 kilometres from Fatundu. They burnt down houses and the provisional death toll is six among whom is a teacher. There is total disarray in the village and the villagers are abandoning their homes and heading to the bushes”, the governor revealed, adding that the hideouts of the assailants are well known and questioned why the security forces cannot go after the attackers in their hideouts.

“They are located around Mowe, Misia, Fayala, Kimpana. We have been asking thousands of questions why our security forces at the junction of Wamba river and Kwango cannot advance into the troubled zones as the assailants have been located. We know the villages where they operate; they are even collecting ‘taxes’ from the populations”, governor Joseph Mankoto of Bagata said.

The atrocities committed in Kwamouth have already seen over two hundred persons killed, with about twenty dead in Bagata territory of Kwilu province alone.

The government of the DR Congo is currently involved in another escalation of violence in the east of the country, where rebels from the Rwandan-backed M23 movement have taken control of several towns.