China has confirmed that several of its citizens have been killed and disappeared in an armed attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC on Thursday.
Local sources said at least four Chinese nationals were killed in an attack by armed militants on a mining site in the gold-rich Ituri province on Wednesday.
Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that armed forces attacked a private Chinese company in the DRC. The ministry informed that many Chinese citizens died or disappeared after the attack.
China strongly condemned the attack and demanded that the government find the killers as soon as possible and punish them severely in accordance with the law, said Mao Ning, a spokesman for the ministry, in a regular press conference.
Attacks on mining sites in the DRC are frequent, as are conflicts between Congolese residents and Chinese miners over gold.
Some local sources said the involvement of a local militant group, Kodeko, in Wednesday’s incident. Codeko claims to defend the interests of the Lendu tribe against the rival Hema tribe.
Codeco confirmed the attack on a Chinese mining site, according to Provincial Assistant Jean-Pierre Bikilisende, from Abombi town in the Zugu region of Ituri. He said that the first figures of four Chinese killed and two Congolese army members injured have been confirmed.
Other local sources reported that six Chinese nationals, their bodyguards, two Congolese soldiers and two civilians were killed. agency