Fighting in the northeast leaves 200 dead

Ethnic clashes between the Hema and Lendu communities in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week led to the deaths of up to 200 people, news organisations reported at the weekend. Reuters reported a spokesman of the Hema in Bukavu, eastern DRC, as saying that the attack on Friday morning by Lendu militiamen on the Hema village of Kparnganza, north of Bunia town, had left 200 people dead. "It's the same business that has been going on for the past three years," Reuters quoted Jean-Baptiste Dhetchuvi as saying. "There are too many economic interests, too much interest in raw materials - it's a region that has gold, timber and coltan," Dhetchuvi said. "For the past two days [14 and 15 February], the Lendu have been killing people - we do not know the exact number, but they are dozens," Reuters quoted Uganda's army spokesman, Major Shaban Bantariza, as saying. He said warriors had gone on a killing spree using assault rifles on Wednesday night, adding that there was no evident reason for the bloodletting, and that Ugandan troops stationed in the area had not tried to calm the situation. "Our hands are tied, we cannot move until the United Nations or the rebel groups in the area ask for our assistance," he added. However, the Associated Press (AP) quoted Bantariza on Sunday as confirming that Ugandan troops had deployed "heavily in the region, and that its commander in the field had reported that peace had been restored to Ituri, northeast of DRC". An official of the UN mission in the DRC (known by its French acronym, MONUC) told IRIN on Monday that the organisation did not have any confirmation on the number of casualties in the latest Hema-Lendu clashes. According to the official, MONUC had sent a letter to Uganda sometime in late January or early February, reminding the country of its obligation under international law that an occupying force must ensure the protection and security of the people within its territory. "This is a requirement of the international law, not what MONUC is asking Uganda to do," the official explained. The Hema and Lendu conflicts have been going on for several years and have claimed hundreds of lives. In the past year, wrangling leaders of the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Kisangani-Mouvement de liberation group operating in the northeast of the country have been accused of exacerbating the situation by manipulating the tribal differences to serve their interests.