Two Chinese nationals killed in DR Congo gold mine attack

Two others, a Congolese woman and a Ugandan national, were found dead, and 10 more Chinese workers remain unaccounted for

The attack comes soon after unidentified armed men kidnapped five Chinese nationals at another site

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Artisanal miners pan for gold at the Luhihi gold mine, 50km from the town of Bukavu in DR Congo’s South Kivu province on November 6. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:28am, 26 Nov 2021

Four people, including two Chinese nationals, were killed in an attack by militiamen on an artisanal gold mine in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, civil and military sources said on Thursday.

Army spokesman Jules Ngongo said men from the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) group on Wednesday killed two Chinese nationals, a Congolese woman and a Ugandan national at a mine in Damblo in Ituri province.

Gold-rich Ituri has been plagued by violence since late 2017. CODECO claims to defend the interests of the Lendu, one of the province’s ethnic groups, and has split into rival factions.

Local civil society leader Lokana Pay said the bodies of two of the 12 Chinese nationals at the site had been found, and the other 10 remained unaccounted for.

An artisanal miner pans for gold in the Luhihi gold mine, 50 km from the town of Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on November 6, 2021. - The Luhihi mining site was discovered by the local population about two years ago, a mountain of gold at the heart of conflicts as well as human rights violations, in the last five months seven people have died in inhumane conditions. (Photo by Guerchom NDEBO / AFP)

The attack is the latest against Chinese in mining sites in the vast and resource-rich DRC after unidentified armed men kidnapped five Chinese working in the province of South Kivu on Sunday.