(10 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++CLIENTS NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS FOOTAGE OF DEAD BODIES++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Masala, Democratic Republic of Congo – 9 June 2024
1. Wide of Red Cross volunteers and village youth searching for corpses
2. Man carrying coffin on motorbike answering a question from a military personnel , body on ground behind him
3. Close of lifeless body ++GRAPHIC++
4. Masala resident, Maurice Kambale Mulehera, entering hut, soldiers seen in hut
5. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Maurice Kambale Mulehera, Masala resident:
“We learned that our fleeing family members were killed along the way. Here we have two bodies, a girl and a boy. Look how they were killed.”
6. Various of volunteers looking for bodies
7. Various of women in middle of ruined village
8. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Maurice Kambale Mulehera, inhabitant of Masala:
“I ask the authorities to continue to protect us, because we don’t know exactly where we are (meaning they are disoriented after the attack).”
9. Various walls and objects burnt in village after attack
10. Wide of DRC soldiers in village after attack
STORYLINE:
Red Cross volunteers and young people from the village of Masala in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province, were searching for bodies following a deadly attack last week.
Militants allied with the Islamic State group in eastern Congo killed at least 41 people in several villages in North Kivu province, the national government said Monday.
The statement said Friday’s attacks were carried out by Allied Democratic Forces militants in the villages of Masala, Mahihi and Keme.
Maurice Kambale Mulehera, a resident of Masala, lost members of his family.
“We learned that our fleeing family members were killed along the way. Here we have two bodies, a girl and a boy. Look how they were killed”, he said.
Local civil society members asserted that the true toll was higher, with as many as 80 killed in the attacks.
In Masala, the population was still in shock and was asking for more protection from the government.
Eastern Congo has struggled with armed violence for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities.
Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings.
The violence has displaced nearly 7 million people, many beyond the reach of aid.
ADF fighters have been present in DRC for three decades and regularly carry out attacks in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri against the Congolese army and villagers.
They later joined the Islamic State group.
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