KINSHASA (Reuters) - An ethnic Nande militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed about 30 civilians, mostly Hutus, on Sunday morning, local sources said, in an apparent escalation of deadly violence between the two groups that has flared repeatedly this year.

Joy Bokele, territorial administrator in North Kivu province’s Lubero territory, told Reuters that fighters from the Mai Mai Mazembe militia attacked the village of Luhanga at about 5 a.m. (0300 GMT) with guns and machetes.

Ethnic rivalries, incursions and competition for mineral-rich land have stoked conflict for two decades among eastern Congo’s dozens of armed groups, including many “Mai Mai” - self-defense militias originally created to resist Rwandan invasions.

The Mai Mai groups take their name from the word for “water” in a local Swahili dialect, because some of their fighters believe magic can turn flying bullets into water.

“For the time being, we have a provisional toll of about 30 deaths and about 20 wounded,” Bokele said.

Militias claiming to represent the two ethnic groups have engaged in tit-for-tat violence throughout the year that has killed dozens of civilians.

International powers fear tensions over President Joseph Kabila’s plan to stay in power beyond the end of his mandate next month could spark large-scale conflict that would feed into such local disputes. A 1998-2003 war in eastern Congo killed millions, mostly from hunger and disease.

Bokele said there was no known motive behind the attack but the Centre of Study for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights, a local activist group, said the killings followed a week of threats by the militiamen against local Hutus.

Tensions between the Hutu and neighboring communities have spiked since Congo’s army launched a military offensive last year against the main Hutu militia in the region, displacing large numbers of fighters and civilians.</s>DR Congo has been going through a prolonged political crisis which deepened in October after the presidential election, which had been due before the year's end, was postponed until April 2018. By Eduardo Soteras (AFP/File)

Goma (DR Congo) (AFP) - At least 34 civilians were killed Sunday in ethnic violence in restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said.

"The provisional toll is 34 civilians killed," said local official Joy Bokele, referring to the attack by a Nande ethnicity militia on the Hutu village of Luhanga.

"They started by attacking the FARDC (DR Congo military) position. While they were attacking the FARDC, another group was executing the population with bladed weapons or bullets," Bokele said.

He added that the attack was carried out by a Nande militia group and that one of the attackers was killed in the clashes.

Tension between the Nande and Hutu peoples have been high in the restive east, shaken by two decades of fighting over land, ethnic tensions and mineral riches.</s>An ethnic Nande militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed about 30 civilians, mostly Hutus, on Sunday morning, local sources said, in an apparent escalation of deadly violence between the two groups that has flared repeatedly this year.

Joy Bokelele, territorial administrator in North Kivu province's Lubero territory, told Reuters that fighters from the Mai Mai Mazembe militia attacked the village of Luhanga around 5 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) with guns and machetes.</s>At least 34 civilians were killed on Sunday in a flare up of ethnic violence in restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said, following a week of soaring tensions.

“The provisional toll is 34 civilians killed,” said local official Joy Bokele, referring to an attack by a Nande ethnicity militia on the Hutu village of Luhanga.

“They started by attacking the FARDC (DR Congo military) position. While they were attacking the FARDC, another group was executing the population with bladed weapons or bullets,” Bokele said.

Bokele added that the attack was carried out by a Nande militia group and that one of the attackers was killed in the clashes. Tensions between the Nande and Hutu peoples have been running high in the restive east, shaken by two decades of fighting over land, ethnic tensions and mineral riches.

The Nande accuse Congolese Hutus of abetting the FDLR Rwandan rebel group. The Hutus, in return, say they are looking for land where they can settle for farming and accuse the Nande of trying to expel them.

Sunday’s killings are the worst inter-communal violence in a year. Dozens of people have died since the start of the year in fighting between the Nande and the Hutus.

“If the army had not intervened, there would have been many more dead,” said a military source.

It is thought that the attack on the Hutu village was carried out by the Mai-Mai Mazembe, a Nande “self-defence” militia. “The militia was searching for members of the Hutu community and wreaked carnage before burning down the village entirely,” said a local rights group, the Centre for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights (CEPADHO).

The group called on the government and the UN’s MONUSCO peacekeeping force in the country to take urgent action to prevent further ethnic violence.

“The Mai-Mai Mazembe made threats against the Hutus during the week, demanding that they leave the area or risk a purge,” CEPADHO added in a statement.

North Kivu has been the scene of repeated clashes for nearly two decades, and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.</s>At least 34 civilians were killed Sunday in ethnic violence in restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said.

"The provisional toll is 34 civilians killed," said local official Joy Bekele, referring to the attack by a Nance ethnicity militia on the Hutu village of Langa.

"They started by attacking the FARDC (DR Congo military) position. While they were attacking the FARDC, another group was executing the population with bladed weapons or bullets," Ms Bekele said.

He added that the attack was carried out by a Nance militia group and that one of the attackers was killed in the clashes.

Tension between the Nance and Hutu peoples have been high in the restive east, shaken by two decades of fighting over land, ethnic tensions and mineral riches.</s>KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A regional administrator says a local militia in Congo’s northeast allegedly has killed at least 37 civilians with machetes and guns.

Joy Bokele, administrator of the Lubero territory in the North Kivu province, named the Mai Mai Mazembe militia group as being responsible for the attack early Sunday.

Bokele says the motive for the attack on a displaced group of mostly ethnic Hutus was unclear.

Bokele says one of the militia assailants also was killed.

A representative for the Hutu community group called on Congo’s government and United Nations peacekeeping forces to take steps to secure the safety of the region’s Hutu population.

The militia group is composed mostly of members of the Nande ethnic group, and ethnic clashes have been escalating in Congo this year.
At least 30 civilians are killed in an attack by ethnic Nande militias in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.