Rebels and militias in the eastern Congo blamed each other this past Saturday for the deaths of as many as 40 civilians in fighting in the past two days.
Rebels aligned with the renegade general, Laurent Nkunda, claimed that Mai-Mai militiamen were responsible for 20 deaths, while Mai-Mai militiamen said that Nkunda’s troops were responsible for 30 deaths. No middle ground has been found as to who started the fighting or how many each group killed.
Local authorities have accused Nkunda’s troops for massacring 40 villagers since Friday near Nyamitaba and Kalonge, which are about 40 miles northwest of Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province.
The fighting erupted as Goma held a conference striving to restore peace in the afflicted region.
In the past year, fighting in North Kivu has displaced 400,000 civilians according to the United Nations, which brings the number of displaced people in the region to 800,000. The army has clashed with Nkunda’s troops since August. Nkunda has been accused of protecting Congolese Tutsis.
I believe this article speaks for itself; another depiction of the seemingly endless struggle between cultures and the inability to find middle ground. It is sad that in a town where a plan for peace is trying to be formulated, such atrocities have to occur. It seems that no matter how hard these cultures try for peace there is no end of the war in sight. I hope that these perilous times are the final pains before peace is actually accomplished.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/world/africa/20Congo.html?ref=africa
1 comment:
I definitely agree with you in wishing for peace for a nation torn by war. I think that in order for any peace talks to be successful, they must reach out to the fighting groups and have them involved. These groups may show less violence if they had a voice in the peace talks. It is clear to see that it doesn't matter who started the fighting. What matters is that there are more than 40 innocent civilians now dead because of their irresponsible actions.
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