Ivanhoe Mines Ltd T.IVN

Conflict in western DRC simmers unnoticed

[bogfit]

 amid rebel gains in the east

“… at least 160,000 people – some estimates say far more – who have fled their homes due to the conflict in Kwamouth, which was sparked in mid-2022 by a dispute over traditional tithes owed to Teke chiefs in the region.
 
The dispute quickly spiralled. The newly formed Mobondo militia – comprising Yaka people, as well communities judged to be related to them – sprang up and began to drive the Teke and their perceived allies from their villages. The violence spread into neighbouring western provinces, even reaching the capital province of Kinshasa.
 
Compared to the conflicts that plague eastern DRC, where tensions are increasing between Congo and neighbouring Rwanda over the advance of the M23 rebel group, little international attention has been paid to the unrest in Kwamouth, despite its proximity to the capital.
 
The focus has instead been on the eastern city of Goma, blockaded by the Rwandan-backed M23, amid fears in recent weeks that it could fall.
 
The Congolese military launched pacification operations last year against the Mobondo militia, but the government banned journalists from travelling to three of the provinces affected by the violence.
 
“The situation is under the control of loyalist forces, who are carrying out in-depth clean-up operations,” Congolese army spokesman Sylvain Ekenge told The New Humanitarian.
 
What little information has leaked out paints a picture of extreme violence, with villages torched and looted across the territory.
 
Bardo Kamona, another survivor of Ingwene, said Mobondo men – “masked and covered in soot” – attacked the village at 3am, sacking houses and killing scores of people, including the traditional chief.
 
“There’s no way to go home,” the 39-year-old woman told The New Humanitarian, speaking from a property not far from Mushebi’s courtyard where she had taken refuge with 20 others after a week-long journey to Kinshasa on foot.
 
The violence is ongoing. About 10 people were killed in an attack on a village in Kwamouth on 23 January, and another seven were reportedly killed in the next-door province of Kwango on 2 February.
 
It’s unclear how many people have died in the conflict so far, although a December report by a UN group of experts pointed to hundreds of civilians killed on both sides. The real death toll is considered to be much higher.
 
 The New Humanitarian | Conflict in western DRC simmers unnoticed amid rebel gains in the east
 
b.