MISNA
Congo DR
11.06.00
At least seven people were killed, two injured and over 40 homes were destroyed by Ugandan soldiers in Loya, a suburb of Maboya (halfway between Butembo and Beni in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo), in retaliation. As reported by our MISNA sources (who will remain anonymous), the raid was sparked by a an ambush conducted a few hours earlier by an armed group, possibly Mayi-Mayi (Congolese nationalist partisans), against a Ugandan vehicle travelling along the road that takes from Butembo to Beni. Four of the soldiers onboard the vehicle were killed in the exchange of fire with the assailants, who disarmed them. After a while other soldiers arrived and with light and heavy arms attacked and then set fire to the nearby community of Loya, which was literally reduced to ashes. Our sources explained that the death toll is only limited because most of the residents had already escaped on hearing of the ambush. However, among the victims was Mrs. Kasereka, who was killed with her four-month-old child; Mrs. Semida, a mother, whose lifeless body was burned on the scene; the elderly Mrs. Sinahali and two children of her family; and the father of a family, whose identity is still unknown, that was killed on his bicycle. North Kivu, controlled by the Congolese Rally for Democracy - Liberation Movement (RCD-ML) backed by the Ugandan troops, until a few months ago was considered relatively safe. Divisions within the RCD-ML and particularly between the historic leader Professor Ernest Wamba dia Wamba and his former deputy, Mbusa Nyamwisi, caused a rapid deterioration of the situation. (BO)