A
militia
attack
on
a
gold
mine
in
northeastern
Congo
killed
six
Chinese
miners
and
two
Congolese
soldiers,
a
civil
society
group
said
Thursday,
the
latest
assault
as
violence
worsens
in
the
resource-rich
region.
The
attack
on
Wednesday
targeted
the
village
of
Gambala
and
the
nearby
“Camp
Blanquette”
gold
mine
in
the
Ituri
province,
according
to
Jean
Robert
Basiloko,
a
member
of
a
local
civil
society
group.
A
militia
known
as
the
Cooperative
for
the
Development
of
the
Congo,
or
CODECO,
claimed
responsibility
for
the
attack.
Eastern
Congo
has
been
torn
by
decade-long
fighting
between
government
forces
and
more
than
120
armed
groups,
often
involving
bombs
targeting
civilians
as
the
militias
seek
a
share
of
the
region’s
gold
and
other
resources.
Violence
in
the
region
has
worsened
in
recent
months
as
security
forces
battle
the
militias.
On
Wednesday,
the
militiamen
set
homes
ablaze
and
then
attacked
the
mine,
which
is
guarded
by
a
competing
armed
group,
the
Zaire
Militia,
Basiloko
told
The
Associated
Press.
The
attackers
killed
six
Chinese
miners
and
two
Congolese
troops,
he
added
and
abducted
two
other
miners,
whose
whereabouts
remain
unknown.
CODECO
and
the
Zaire
Militia
are
involved
in
a
complex
conflict,
mixing
economic
ambitions
and
power
struggles.
The
Zaire
Militia,
a
dissident
faction
of
CODECO,
fiercely
opposes
its
former
allies.
CODECO
is
a
loose
association
of
militia
groups
mainly
from
the
ethnic
Lendu
farming
community.
Attacks
by
CODECO
killed
nearly
1,800
people
and
wounded
more
than
500
in
the
four
years
through
2022,
according
to
the
African
Center
for
the
Study
and
Research
on
Terrorism.
The
United
Nations
has
said
some
of
the
attacks
could
constitute
war
crimes
and
crimes
against
humanity.
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