Lethal Attack in Western Democratic Republic of the Congo Leaves at least 70 Dead Amid Continual Community Conflict

Local authorities stated that at least seventy persons—nine soldiers and the wife of a soldier among others—have been slain in an attack on the Kinsele village in western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC.). The Saturday, July 15 violence has heightened already existing tensions between the competing Teke and Yaka populations in the area.

Claiming to be defending the Yaka people, the Mobondo militia carried out the attack in Kinsele, some 100 kilometers east of the capital, Kinshasa. Deadly events often take several days to be reported in the region because of its instability and inadequate infrastructure.

David Bisaka, a member of the Kwamouth Territory regional parliament, said Monday morning that 72 remains had been found; searches for further bodies in the forest are still under way. First intending to attack Kinsele on Friday, the army turned back the Mobondo militia. The militia carried out the deadly attack on Saturday despite military efforts.

Chief of a nearby hamlet Stanys Liby spoke with Radio Okapi supported by United Nations and mentioned among the dead nine soldiers and the widow of a soldier. Since June 2022, a conflict between the Teke and Yaka communities has erupted in the Kwamouth area, so the incident marks the most recent in a sequence of violent events there. Driven by custom fees and property rights, this struggle has taken hundreds of lives.

Human Rights Watch has documented the violence; tensions between the Teke, the area’s historical residents, and farmers from other ethnic groups—including the Yaka—who have moved near the Congo River have exploded. Signed in front of Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, a ceasefire agreement in April 2024 has driven bloodshed in recent weeks rather than stopped it.

The problem is exacerbated by ongoing conflict in eastern the country; the Congolese army has fought to stop the slaughter in the Kwamouth region. Eastern DRC has been beset by decade-long warfare involving government forces and more than 120 armed factions vying for control over the region’s valuable resources, especially gold.

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Violence in the eastern DRC intensified earlier this month when a militia raid on a gold mine in northeastern Congo claimed six Chinese laborers and two Congolese troops dead. The ongoing volatility in the east and the west of the nation emphasizes the DRC’s more general security issues as well as the government’s struggles preserving order.

The international community watches anxuously as the DRC fights these armed groups on several fronts. Apart from endangering the lives of people, the continuous violence compromises attempts towards long-lasting peace and stability in the area. The latest incident in Kinsele serves as a sobering reminder of the pressing need of efficient intervention and resolution of the issues now destroying the nation.