afrol News, 5 June - At least six Congolese civilians were killed and 30 wounded when Rwandan insurgents opened fire on Wednesday at a refugee camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The assault was direct resultant of Congolese government troops advances to push Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) out of their strongholds near the border with Rwanda, which they have been occupying for years.

The DR Congo armed forces are gradually extending their positions in disputed land before launching a massive military campaign to dislodge and disarm Rwandan rebels from their bases in the country.

U.N. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich said rebels fired indiscriminately at unarmed civilians inside the camp, targeting the most vulnerable members of society.

D.R. Congo's civilian and military authorities have expressed worries that the FDLR attack on civilians is an act of retaliation after clashes with D.R. Congo's Armed Forces that had taken place in a nearby town earlier that day.

Congolese disputed land harbours over 8,000 Hutu rebels, some of which allegedly took part in 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The rebels' establishment in the disputed areas has been one of the mega frustrations of peace efforts in eastern DR Congo.

The camp that was attacked housed about 6,000 people who had fled fighting in northern part of the country in the past 18 months involving FDLR, government soldiers, Tutsi insurgents and local militiamen. The UN refugee agency says violence in those provinces has now displaced almost 900,000 people.

An attack was the worst ever carried out against civilians in eastern Congo since the government signed a peace accord in January with more than a dozen rebel groups and militias, excluding FDLR.

About 5.4 million people are estimated dead in the Congolese conflict and ensuing humanitarian crisis, most from hunger and disease. The U.N. maintains a 17,000-strong peacekeeping force in D.R. Congo.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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