Soldier opens fire, kills children at son’s funeral
Story from Christine TOBECHUKWU
A Congolese soldier has allegedly killed at least 13 civilians. The Congolese military and local authorities reported this incident on Sunday, July 2023.
According to the DRC military and a local official, the soldier killed over a dozen civilians after learning his son had been buried in his absence. It is reported that most of the victims are children.
The shooting occurred in the fishing village of Nyakova in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern Ituri province.
The army spokesman Jules Ngongo said that the man opened fire after learning that his son, who apparently died of natural causes on Thursday, was buried before the soldier arrived home.
Ngongo also stated that two of the soldier’s children were among those shot dead by him.
The spokesperson of the army also said that members of the Congolese military were dispatched to apprehend the soldier, who had fled the scene of the attack.
He called the incident and actions of the soldier an “act of indiscipline that will be dealt with by the courts.”
The village chief Oscar Baraka Muguwa also revealed that the man carried out the attack after returning from his post of duty at another village only to find community members mourning the death of his son. The shooter had been posted with his unit in Gobu, some 55 kilometers (34 miles) away.
The Kivu Security Tracker (KST) conflict monitor said the death toll included 10 children and two women who were said to have taken part in the funeral.
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