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22 May, 2012 - 16:11

Eastern DR Congo clashes kill 100 in a week: group

Internally displaced Congolese from Kisigari walk through the village of Kabindi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Rutshuru territory, on May 21. A feud between Rwandan Hutu rebels and the Mai Mai militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week left more than 100 people dead, including civilians, a local activist said Tuesday. data/files/photo_1337706633971-1-0.jpg

A feud between Rwandan Hutu rebels and the Mai Mai militia in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week left more than 100 people dead, including civilians, a local activist said Tuesday.

"A week ago, the Mai Mai attacked the FLDR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), who retaliated by targeting everybody they could find, accusing them of collaborating with the Mai Mai," Nord-Kivu province civil society coordinator Omar Kavota told AFP.

"The Mai Mai who were hunting the FDLR also targeted anybody who stood in their path, claiming they were working with the FDLR," said Kavota, whose umbrella organisation includes rights groups and workers' unions.

"We're talking about more than 100 dead, mostly with knives and machetes."

The tit-for-tat killing is only one of several ongoing conflicts between the myriad armed groups based in the remote regions of eastern DR Congo.

Deadly fighting is also raging in Nord-Kivu province between the regular army (FARDC) and former rebels who were integrated into the military as part of a 2009 peace deal but recently started to defect en masse, complaining of poor treatment.