The United Nation UN says about over 50 people, including women and children, were killed in an attack at a site for internally displaced people in Savo, Ituri Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC.
According to the UN Mission in the country, MONUSCO, the attack was carried out by members of the so-called Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, CODECO, a loose association of various Lendu militia groups.
Head of the Mission, Bintou Keita condemned the attack that also left 36 injured.
It was gathered that MONUSCO dispatched a patrol to the site upon receiving an alert about the attack and also notified national security forces as well as its community alert network.
The Secretary-General’s Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Haq, while briefing newsmen in New York, said UN peacekeepers exchanged fire with the assailants shortly after arriving on the scene.
The blue helmets also conducted joint operations with the Congolese army into the early morning, pushing the assailants out of the area and securing the site to prevent further immediate attacks.
