A bomb exploded in a village in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday, killing at least nine people and injuring twelve others, according to a local authority.
Isaac Kibira, a representative of the provincial governor, claims that the device detonated on Wednesday night in the eastern region of Rutshuru. Attempting to identify an object on the ground when it exploded in the centre of the town, instantly killing him and eight nearby citizens, was a local self-defense fighter who was a member of a militia to protect the community.
The bomb was discovered in a location where armed rebels have lately made inroads, but it was not immediately apparent who planted it.
An element of the local East African Community forces stationed there supplied emergency first assistance, according to Kibira. Officials in charge of public health in the area claimed that the injured were treated at a clinic.
Disputes between more than 120 tribes, some of whom are vying for control of important mineral resources, land, and other resources, have been simmering in the eastern Congo for decades. But it reached its peak in late 2021 when the rebel organisation M23, which had been largely dormant for almost a decade, reappeared and began seizing territory. An uptick in violence in the nation’s northeast prompted the United Nations to issue a warning earlier this week.
Ten years ago, Goma, the main city in eastern Congo and a gateway to Rwanda, was taken by M23 rebels, giving the group international notoriety. It takes its name from a peace accord that was signed on March 23, 2009, and which the Congolese government is charged of failing to follow. Rwanda has been accused of helping the M23 rebels by the Congolese government and the U.N., but Rwanda strongly refutes these claims.
Fighting for control of the village is M23 and a neighbourhood self-defense organisation. To defend their communities against invading armed groups, Wazalendo youth militia organisations—which means “patriots” in Kiswahili—have sprouted up all over northeastern Congo.
The deaths on Wednesday occurred less than a week after M23 was charged with killing almost a dozen people in a separate town in the same region.
