Armed groups clash in DRC, 29 people killed

LUBERO, Democratic Republic of Congo

Twenty-nine people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have died in clashes between rebels from the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Mai Mai (a local armed group).

The violence in the eastern DRC was revealed to Anadolu Agency by a spokesman for a local civil society group late on Sunday.

FDLR militants attacked a camp occupied by the Mai Mai militia group in Mukeverwa, Lubero on Sunday, Edgar Mateso said.

Fierce fighting broke out, with Mateso saying that the fighting led to the deaths of 25 FDLR rebels and four Mai Mai members.

Mai Mai groups in eastern DRC are community-based militias formed by local leaders.

Lubero has been rocked by violence since November between the Nande community -- supported by Mai Mai militia groups -- and Hutus who are close to the FDLR.

According to the Commission for Justice and Peace of the parish of Luofu, since November 2015, at least 127 people have died and more than 200 have gone missing. Twenty women have been raped and 3,300 houses burned in Lubero.

Eastern DRC has been wracked by violence for the past two decades, much of it fueled by Rwandan rebels as well as fighters opposed to Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni.