Gunmen kill 19 at fish market in northeast Congo

AFP  |  Bunia 

At least 19 people were killed when gunmen attacked a fish market in near Lake Albert, local officials said on Sunday.

No group has claimed responsibility, but the region around province has been hit in the past by intercommunal violence between militias from the Hema and Lendu communities.

"Nineteen corpses were found in the village of on the edge of Lake Albert, and eight others were wounded," said Pilo Mulindo, a in Djugu territory.

"The attack happened on Wednesday when armed bandits attacked a group gathered on the beach to set up a market," the said.

The UN mission to the DRCongo, known by its initials MONUSCO, reported the attack on Friday without giving a precise death toll. It planned to send a team to the area.

The victims were fishermen and their customers, Mulindo said. The area is known as a region where are active.

Violence shook province, particularly Djugu, last year when militias from Hema herder communities and Lendu farmers clashed and killed more than 100 people.

More than 300,000 were displaced or forced to flee to Uganda, on the other side of

Lakes in the region are also a cause of tension between DRCongo and Uganda, with claims of members crossing to the Ugandan side for illegal fishing, often accompanied by attacks on locals.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sun, May 19 2019. 19:56 IST