\n DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi described bloodshed in a volatile northeastern province as an \"attempted genocide\" Tuesday, after a wave of violence that has killed scores of civilians and forced tens of thousands from their homes in less than a month.\n<\/p>\n
\n Tshisekedi has ordered the army to launch a \"large-scale\" operation against armed groups operating in Ituri province, where local authorities say at least 160 civilians have died since June 10 in clashes between the militias.\n<\/p>\n
\n The DRC leader, speaking as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the province, said the fighting appeared to be a \"plot\" and vowed to \"find out the truth\" about who was behind the unrest.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Clearly, this looks like an attempt at genocide. To push Ituri to ignite,\" he said at a press conference in the Ituri city of Bunia, adding that the aim was apparently to \"destabilise the power of Kinshasha\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The UN refugee agency has said instability has forced more than 300,000 people to flee their homes, with people escaping unrest in Djugu territory especially.\n<\/p>\n
\n In June the UN agency voiced deep concern over the surge in displaced people and said it had seen \"multiple attacks\" involving the Hema and Lendu groups.\n<\/p>\n
\n On Sunday Tshisekedi announced a major military operation in Ituri's Djugu and Mahagi territories, with the offensive extending to South Kivu province to put a \"definite end\" to the dozens of militias roaming the lawless, mineral-rich region.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said his government had devised a plan for the \"complete eradication\" of foreign armed groups, in collaboration with the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO and neighbouring countries affected by the violence, particularly Uganda and Rwanda.\n<\/p>\n
\n The army announced last week it had taken control of the stronghold of the Ngudjolo militia, which has been blamed for the latest bloodshed, in an offensive backed by MONUSCO.\n<\/p>\n
\n Tens of thousands of people died in clashes between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups between 1999 and 2003 in Ituri.\n<\/p>\n
\n Violence between the two communities also displaced some 350,000 in late 2017 and early 2018.\n<\/p>\n
\n Tshisekedi, who came to power in January, urged people to \"love one another... this is the province of all Iturians. There is room for everyone\" on a visit to displaced communities.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I hope his presence will bring peace in Ituri,\" said Victor Ngona, a spokesman for the Hema community, which feels particularly targeted by the killings.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ituri is not the only part of DRC wracked by unrest.\n<\/p>\n
\n The country counts an estimated 4.5 million internally displaced people.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ituri and North Kivu province, just to the south, are also trying to roll back a major epidemic of Ebola that has claimed more than 1,500 lives since last August. Both provinces sit on DR Congo's eastern border with Uganda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi described bloodshed in a volatile northeastern province as an \"attempted genocide\" Tuesday, after a wave of violence that has killed scores of civilians and forced tens of thousands from their homes in less than a month. Tshisekedi has ordered the army to launch a \"large-scale\" operation against armed groups operating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-41809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n