Fighting between the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) and the armed group Twirwaneho in the territory of Mwenga in the province of South Kivu in eastern Congo, has pushed thousands of residents to flee their homes. Twirwaneho is made up of members of the Banyamulenge community. Several shepherds from this community were attacked by local militiamen in collaboration with Congolese soldiers. They stripped them of their belongings, killed their cows before detaining them.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Hostilities broke out on November 28 and lasted two days. The locality of Kalingi was badly affected. It is located in the territory of Mwenga. It is in the province of South Kivu in eastern Congo. According to our sources, inhabitants of the villages of Kalingi, Bidegu, Kitavi, Ilundu and Kiziba fled their homes. They headed to farms or to other villages considered more secure on the outskirts of Minembwe.

According to Sebikamiro Rwaganje, administrative manager in Kalingi, the fighting broke out when FARDC soldiers attacked a post of Twirwaneho fighters located in Kalingi.

« These soldiers came from Mikenge. In the villages of Kalingi and Ilundu, they killed 17 cows and injured 30 others. They also injured three people, » he told SOS Médias Burundi.

Marc Kundabantu is a resident of Kalingi. He spent a night in the bush, in the rain, fearing for his safety.

« When I came back, everything inside my house had been stolen : mattresses, pots, clothes… », laments this father. He accuses Congolese soldiers based in Madegu and Mikenge of being the perpetrators of this looting.

Until this Sunday, several activities were paralyzed following these clashes which were accompanied by massive displacements of the population.

In a press release published on Saturday, the FARDC claimed to have killed five fighters from Twirwaneho. The document also speaks of three seriously injured in the ranks of this armed group « which provoked the army by ambushing soldiers on patrol in Kalingi ».

The armed group denied this information, claiming to have inflicted heavy losses on the Congolese army.

« This Saturday, we even handed over to the Red Cross an FARDC Major that we had captured. Many soldiers died, » said a Twirwaneho official without giving exact figures.

Civilians attacked

According to witnesses, members of the local militias maintained by the Congolese authorities in collaboration with Congolese soldiers attacked shepherds from the Banyamulenge community. Several of them, including young men, were humiliated, forced to take off their shirts and jackets and walk bare-chested, tied up, their hands tied behind.

« These Mai-Mai militiamen and FARDC soldiers tortured shepherds who were taking the herds to Mikalati. They stripped them of their belongings before undressing them in front of the local population and taking them to the army dungeons in Mikenge, » said witnesses. At least five men remain in detention in Mikenge, according to the local civil society, which deplores the resurgence of insecurity.

The situation remains tense in this area where fighting also pitted Burundian soldiers against the Burundian armed group Red-Tabara earlier this week.

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Shepherds from the Banyamulenge community humiliated by Mai-Mai militiamen and FARDC soldiers, November 30, 2024 in Mikenge, DR