BUNIA, DR Congo, Nov 29, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - A new attack on the Ivo displaced
people's camp in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday
claimed the lives of 22 civilians, an aid worker said.

   The same camp was attacked less than a week ago when 29 people were
killed.

   Red Cross coordinator Mambo Bapu Mance told AFP that 20 people were buried
immediately in two common graves, while another two who died of their wounds
were buried later.

   He accused the armed group Cooperative for the Development of Congo
(CODECO) of carrying out the attack.

   The Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a respected US-based monitor of violence
in the region, cited the same death toll.

   The army spokesman in the region, Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, said the CODECO
rebels were repelled, but did not elaborate.

   EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell Fontelles called for strong action
against the perpetrators.

   "The EU condemns the new appalling attacks committed by the militia
against civilian populations, particularly the internally displaced persons,"
he wrote on Twitter.

   "Decisiveness against the perpetrators and support & justice for the
victims are necessary for a lasting peace in the region."

   Gold-rich Ituri province has been plunged back into a cycle of violence
since late 2017 with the rise of the CODECO militia, which has since split
into rival factions.

   Ituri and neighbouring North Kivu have been under a state of siege since
May 6, an exceptional measure to combat armed groups including CODECO and the
Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

   Civilian authorities have been replaced by military and police officers.

   Two other attacks took place overnight Saturday elsewhere in Ituri,
leaving a total of nine civilians dead, civil society leader Isaac
Nyakuklinda told AFP.