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Congo - deepest, darkest Africa

Discussion in 'Africa' started by waltky, Sep 21, 2012.

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waltky Well-Known Member

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40 police officers beheaded in the Congo...

DR Congo unrest: Why are police in Kasai being decapitated?
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 - Up to 400 people have reportedly been killed in the central DR Congo province of Kasai - what is going on?

Militia fighters in the Democratic Republic of Congo have decapitated about 40 police officers in an ambush in the central province of Kasai, local officials say. The attack on a police convoy last Friday is thought to be one of the deadliest single episodes of violence in Kasai since unrest broke out in August 2016. Reports say up to 400 people have been killed in total. Six policemen who spoke the local Tshiluba language were freed in Friday's incident, but the rest were killed, Kasai Assembly President Francois Kalamba said. The Kamwina Nsapu group was believed to be behind the attack. It has been fighting DR Congo forces since its leader was killed by the security forces last year.

Anti-government protests in the capital have received extensive media coverage

The attack came days after the UN Human Rights Council said 10 mass graves had been found in Kasai, with limbs sticking out of the soil at some of the sites. At least 99 people, including 18 children, were killed between 1 January and 23 February this year, the UN body said after a visit to the area by a team of investigators. In one attack on 10 February, government troops killed at least 40 alleged militiamen and buried them in two mass graves that its investigators had seen, the UN body added in a report. The militia is also alleged to have committed atrocities, including killing about 30 people, among them children, following an incursion into the neighbouring Lomami region on 9 March. In another instance, the militia allegedly "decapitated two policemen and took away their heads", the UN report said.

What is the fighting about?

Followers of Kamwina Nsapu, a traditional chief whose real name was Jean-Pierre Pandi, wanted his chiefdom to be officially recognised by the authorities. There were communal clashes after Kamwina Nsapu called for a popular uprising in June 2016 with the aim of removing all state institutions and security forces from the region. He was killed two months later when the police raided his house. His followers vowed to avenge his killing. They also demanded the exhumation of the late leader's body, saying he had not been buried in accordance with traditional rites.

The conflict has since escalated, tapping into long-held grievances over marginalisation in this opposition bastion blighted by poor infrastructure. The Kamwina Nsapu fighters - largely made up of child soldiers - have targeted state institutions, looting and burning local and national government offices. However, the UN has condemned the army for using disproportionate force against fighters equipped with traditional weapons such as machetes, homemade rifles or even just sticks.

Why is it so serious?
Click to expand...

waltky, Mar 27, 2017

#49
Latherty Well-Known Member

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waltky said: ↑

40 police officers beheaded in the Congo...

DR Congo unrest: Why are police in Kasai being decapitated?
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 - Up to 400 people have reportedly been killed in the central DR Congo province of Kasai - what is going on?
Click to expand...

Apparently half his militia are under 14 years of age.
It'll be ugly...

Latherty, Mar 27, 2017

#50

waltky likes this.

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