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A group of rebels fighting the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) raided a village in Zambia’s northernmost Kaputa district this week, officials told IRIN on Friday.
In the first such reported incursion of its kind in Zambia, two civilians and a Zambian soldier were shot and wounded by the rebels who burnt down four shops and four homes after a looting spree.
A UNHCR spokesman said the incident had occurred in the Zambian border village of Lambwe Chomba on Tuesday night. He had no further details of the raid.
Local media reports said the rebels were well armed and that they only returned across the border after a three-hour battle. But a government official, who declined to speculate on the motive for the raid, said a formal statement would be issued when the incident had been fully investigated.
In recent months, 25,000 Congolese refugees have sought shelter in Zambia where UNCHR is providing them with assistance.
To date, UNHCR has transferred 11,000 of the refugees to a new refugee camp outside Mporokoso, some 200 km south of the DRC border.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions