Tribal fighters killed at least 200 people and abducted scores more over the last month in a series of attacks that destroyed a town controlled by a rival tribe in volatile northeastern Congo. Repeated attacks by fighters from the Lendu tribe on Fataki, a town 60 kilometers northwest of Bunia that was controlled by the rival Hema tribe, forced thousands of residents to flee, said Saba Rafiki, security chief for the Union of Congolese Patriots, a militia from the Hema tribe. During the attacks, the Lendu abducted at least 137 Hema residents to use as laborers and concubines, Rafiki said. Officials from the United Nations mission in Congo, or MONUC, could not confirm those figures.
| "I dunno. 137? Coulda been 125. Maybe 180. Who knows?" |
Military observers who flew over Fataki in helicopter gunships on Saturday spotted a few people who appeared to be looters picking through the remains of smoldering houses, said Leo Salmeron, a MONUC spokesman.
| "They ain't comin' back. They ain't gonna need these pots and pans..." |
The people dropped the corrugated iron sheets they were carrying and fled for cover when the two gunships swooped lower for a closer look, Salmeron said. The last attack appeared to have taken place Thursday or Friday. The destruction of Fataki came just as soldiers from a French-led international force were handing over their positions in Bunia, capital of the restive Ituri province, to Bangladeshi troops, who assumed control of the town Sunday.
| Hell of a job, guys. Hell of a job. |
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