[Al Jazeera] At least 22 non-combatants were killed in Democratic Republic of the Congo...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka
Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
's North Kivu province over the weekend, an official said, blaming the attacks on an gang led by Ugandan rebels.
The killings happened in Eringeti, a town 55km north of the regional hub Beni, a city plagued by a wave of deadly attacks, according to regional official Amisi Kalonda.
"Yesterday, they killed 10 civilians. Twelve other bodies were found [on Sunday] in the surrounding villages," he told AFP news agency on Sunday.
For the past two years, the region around Beni has been afflicted by a series of killings. Nearly 700 civilians have died, most of whom were hacked to death.
Congolese officials have blamed the attacks on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group of rebels dominated by Ugandan Moslems, but several reports have suggested that other groups - including elements within the Congolese army - took part in some killings.
A Congolese army front man confirmed the attacks saying military forces had "killed four ADF rebels" but added that "the toll on the civilian side is very heavy".
Political crisis
The violence came amid a major political crisis in the country, in which opposition leaders are trying to prevent President Joseph Kabila, who has been in office since 2001, from serving a third term.
Congolese politicians have agreed in principle to a deal under which Kabila will leave office by the end of 2017, opposition leaders said on Friday, an unexpected breakthrough after dozens were killed in anti-government protests this week.