IRC Distributes Essential Items to Thousands Displaced by Congo Massacre

The IRC last week distributed essential items such as cooking sets, mats and hygiene articles to over 15,000 displaced people in Congo’s troubled South Kivu province. Tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes on May 26 following an attack on three villages in the Kaniola region near the provincial capital Bukavu. A month after the attack, people return to their villages only during the day to attend to their farms. Before nightfall, they hurry back to urban centers and spend the night with host families or in community centers.

“People are still very frightened and are in desperate need of supplies,” said Dr. Thierry N’Dete, the IRC’s emergency program coordinator. “The IRC, along with the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations, has asked local commanders from the Congolese regular army to improve security in Kaniola.”

The IRC will distribute items to an additional 25,000 people through next week and is closely monitoring events in the area.

During the May attack, 19 civilians, including a number of children, were killed when fighters from the FDLR/Rastas, a group made up of disaffected ex-militia and local bandits, attacked the villages of Nyabuluze, Muhungu and Dhihamba. Victims were slashed with machetes during the attack which occurred as people were sleeping in their houses.