Congo

Attack on mine kills 16, injures dozens

Article published on the 2009-08-14 Latest update 2009-08-14 17:50 TU

Part of a cassiterite mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

At least 16 people have been killed and dozens more injured in an attack by armed militia on a mine, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tribal militia have been blamed for attacking the village of M'pama, a few kilometres from the Bisie cassiterite mine, in North Kivu province.

The Bisie site is the country's largest tin mine, while M'pama is home to 16,000 people, most of them miners. Rebel groups in Congo often control cassiterite, gold, and coltan mines, whose output finances armed insurgencies.

Lieutenant Colonel Jean Pierre Dietrich, military spokesperson for the UN mission in Congo, told RFI the attack is thought to have been carried out by a new Mai Mai militia with links to the Rwandan Hutu rebel group, the FDLR.

"This village is largely inhabited by workers of the village mine - but there are also some Congolose soldiers," he said. "Mai Mai groups very often have economic interests and it may possible that the Mai Mai groups together with some elements of FDLR have some interests in this mine."

 

The FDLR had formerly fought alongside the Democratic Republic of Congo’s army, and believe that magic has enhanced their power as warriors.

Some of the FDLR are Hutus who took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide of the minority Tutsis before installing themselves on the far side of the border.