Dozens of young people, at the request of a civic movement Véranda Mutshanga’s pressure group, went about 45 km in search of suspected ADF fighters, suspected of being perpetrators of several attacks on civilians and the DRC’s armed forces. These young people believe that the army is not doing its job. Popular justice raises fears of abundance.
as reported from Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi
Some were equipped with arrows, others with clubs. During a drive, they had left Beni on Friday morning with the dangerous national road No. 4 leading to the Ugandan border. The protesters passed Semliki, Halungupa, Lume, Kisima, Kilia and Mutuanga. They spent the night in Bulongo. Most of these settlements have been the target of several bloody attacks in recent months.
These angry young people returned to Beni this Saturday morning. According to them, this measure was intended to condemn what they call the inefficiency of the police and the armed forces in the region. They also wanted, they say, to show that they are taking responsibility because the army could not guarantee the security of the region.
Since December 2020, the UN has also observed a deterioration in civil-military relations in the region. This is manifested in particular by an increased use of bullying justice against individuals suspected of belonging to the ADF.
But other militias are also attacking the army. The armed forces are finally the target of the population after all attacks by alleged ADF or Mai-Mai.
According to the UN report, nine FARDC soldiers have died in the region since the beginning of the year.
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