8 People Beheaded By Suspected Congo Militia

FILE PHOTO: Soldiers of DR Congo on patrol in Kinshasa

Eight members of a same family were beheaded on Thursday evening by suspected members of the Kamuina Nsapu militia in Kasaï-Central province in central Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to local authorities on Saturday.

Local security sources said that the attackers led by their leader in the name of David Ndaye Kalonga broke into Mulombela town on Thursday afternoon before attacking the victims of a couple and their six children. For the moment the motive for this carnage is not yet known.

According to the same sources, this faction of the Kamuina Naspu militia group has been very active in the region since the beginning of the year.

In April 2017, they even participated in the attack on the family of the current leader Kamuina Nsapu, which led to death of four people.

The same militia leader is believed to be behind a beheading of another village chief and his wife on the outskirts of Kananga on February.

He is opposed to the current leader Kamuina Nsapu, considering him too conciliatory with the official administration.

Since the last conflicts that plunged the Kasaï area, several uncontrolled factions of the Kamuina Nsapu militia remain very active in several territories in the center of the country.

The fighting between Kamuina Nsapu’s elements and the security forces has killed thousands of people and caused many internally displaced.