At least 16 people have died and 25 others are missing as a result of intensified fighting in recent days between two rival communities in southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The latest incident was an assault on the town of Missia, in Kwilu province, where gunmen stormed the town last Thursday. This locality is right next to the village of Kwamouth, in the neighboring province of Mai Ndombé, which has been the scene of a territorial dispute between the Teke and Yaka communities for years.
This conflict has left more than 180 people dead, according to the Government of Kinshasa, and tens of thousands of displaced persons, according to the UN. In addition, local organizations have denounced the precarious state of health of more than 1,600 displaced children from Mai Ndombé to Kwilu.
The attack resulted in 16 deaths, 25 abducted and dozens of houses burned, according to the chief administrator of the Bagata territory, Joseph Mankoto, to Radio Okapi.
Mankoto took the opportunity to call for the intervention of the army, given the proximity of a military deployment to the conflict zone.
«The troops are in the vicinity of Fatundu», 25 kilometers away from Missia, «while the population complains because atrocities, aggressions, attacks are occurring in the interior», he laments.
