Militiamen kill 14 civilians in Congo province

Militiamen in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed 14 people yesterday in an attack on a village in the northeastern province of Ituri, most of them women and children burned to death, the United Nations said.

Rachel Eklou, UN spokeswoman in Ituri's capital Bunia, said fighters from the ethnic Lendu group attacked the village of Lengabo, 10 km from Bunia, in the early hours of the morning. The victims included nine children.

"A group of around 300 well-armed Ngiti (ethnic Lendus) attacked Bira people," Ms Eklou said. "Four people were shot and another 10 burned to death."

"When we went there, people said that they did not know why the attack had taken place, but it must be revenge related."

Some 50,000 people have been killed in mineral-rich Ituri since fighting between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups started in 1999. There are now seven armed factions, mostly divided between the two tribes, fighting over natural resources and land.

"The attack was well coordinated and they were heavily armed. Our troops arrived 40 minutes afterwards, but by then the attackers had fled," Ms Eklou said.