Tribe clash forces new displacement in DR Congo

KINSHASA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The population of the Buburu locality, situated in the Bomongo territory in the Equateur province of the Democratic republic of Congo (DRC), deserted their homes on Friday and Saturday to take refuge on the other side of the Congo river in Impfondo of the Republic of Congo, fleeing the approaching armed youths of Enyele tribe, who are hunting down their enemies of Boba tribe. The population ran away from this area after being informed that the security forces as well as the humanitarian organizations had fled after learning of the approaching Enyele youths, a resident of Buburu confirmed. An official in charge of external relations of the UNHCR in Kinshasa, Francesca Fontanini, also told Radio Okapi that aid workers had temporarily closed down the UNHCR offices in Buburu. "Our staff was consequently evacuated on Thursday with the partners, they arrived in Impfondo on Thursday evening. They told us that Buburu town was empty with none of its citizens because of the threats of attacks," he declared. "Currently, we have about 37,000 Congolese refugees on the other side of the Ubangi River in the Republic of Congo. It's very important to secure the zones where the refugees are camping," he added. Meanwhile, provincial deputy Jean-Faustin Mokoma called for calm. The official was elected from the Kungu territory and is acting as coordinator of the Alliance for Presidential Majority (AMP) to the provincial assembly of Equateur, "At this moment, we are asking the central government to do whatever is possible to bring back peace in the troubled zones. We also appeal to our Enyele brothers and other assailants to understand that all the crimes they are committing will not forever go unpunished," he declared. In the madness of hunting down their Boba tribe enemies, the armed Enyele youths on Wednesday attacked the localities of Sabasaba and Lobondo in the Bomboma district. The rapid response unit of the police repulsed this attack, causing six deaths of the assailants and four civilians among the Bomboma villagers. The situation remains calm in the troubled Dongo, where the Enyele youths began their rebellion on Sept. 30, according to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which sent an inspection team to Dongo on Friday and Saturday. However, the team said it saw a ghost town with many houses burnt down and corpses still lying in the streets. Seraphin Kazadi, who led the mission, indicated that the humanitarian priority is "to burry all the corpses still lying along Dongo streets, clean up the place to avoid an outbreak of epidemics and take humanitarian assistance to the zones for the return of refugees.

Editor: Lin Zhi