China confirms citizens dead, missing after DR Congo attack
- Beijing’s foreign ministry called for the killers to be hunted down and strictly punished
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China confirmed on Thursday that an armed attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) left several of its citizens dead or missing.
Local sources said on Wednesday that a militia attack on a mining site in gold-rich Ituri province killed at least four Chinese nationals.
Beijing’s foreign ministry said a private Chinese company in the DRC “was attacked by armed forces, resulting in the death and disappearance of several Chinese nationals”, without specifying the number.
“China expresses its strong condemnation of this attack,” ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press conference.
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“We demand that the DRC side hunts down the killers as quickly as possible and strictly punishes them in accordance with the law,” she added.
Attacks on mining sites and convoys are common in the DRC, as are conflicts over gold between Congolese residents and Chinese miners.
Some of the local sources attributed Wednesday’s incident to a militia group, Codeco, which claims to defend the interests of the Lendu tribe against the rival Hema tribe.
“There has been an incursion by the Codeco into the Chinese mining site”, not far from the town of Abombi in the Djugu territory of Ituri, provincial deputy Jean-Pierre Bikilisende told Agence France-Presse.
“We have a first provisional toll of four Chinese killed and two FARDC (Congolese army) members wounded,” he added.
Other local sources put the death toll at six Chinese nationals, along with their bodyguards, two Congolese soldiers and two civilians.
Dozens of civilians have been killed in Codeco attacks on villages in the province since the beginning of this year.
Inter-communal violence killed thousands in Ituri from 1999-2003 until an intervention by European forces restored calm. The conflict erupted again in 2017, resulting in thousands more deaths and the mass displacement of residents.
The southern part of Ituri has also suffered from the intercommunal violence spilling over from neighbouring North Kivu province, which has been ravaged by attacks blamed on rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces group, affiliated with Islamic State.
The ADF, originally mainly Muslim Ugandan rebels, have established a presence over the past three decades in eastern DR Congo, killing thousands of civilians.
Additional reporting by Reuters
