The Facts
Local sources in Ituri province's Djugu territory, in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have reported that at least 46 people, half of them children, have been killed in a bloody attack carried out overnight on Sunday in the Lala camp for displaced people.
Officials have blamed the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo (CODECO) militia — which claims to protect the Lendu ethnic community from the DRC army and the Hema ethnic group — for this assault just three miles (5 km) away from the UN peacekeeper base in Bule.
The Spin
Narrative A
The CODECO rebel attacks have worsened the longstanding humanitarian crisis in Ituri province, which is more or less a lawless region despite the presence of UN peacekeepers. More than 120 rebel groups are escalating the violence, driving the largest population of internally displaced people on the African continent. Despite this, no plan has been outlined to bring peace to the DRC.
Narrative B
While solving the dire situation in the eastern part of the DRC may require a lot of effort to restore governance in the region, it is clear that CODECO will not halt its operations as long as threats to the Lendu community remain unresolved and the concerns of its supporters go unaddressed. If authorities want to take a step in the right direction, they should recognize that peace will only be restored once these issues are resolved.