Residents of the town of Bunia in eastern Congo said on Saturday killings and kidnappings continued despite a cease-fire signed by Congolese President Joseph Kabila and militia groups due to take effect on Saturday. Residents said youths armed mostly with spears, knives and bows and arrows were still fighting on the edge of the town. Violence in and around Bunia between militias linked to rival Hema and Lendu communities was estimated by the United Nations to have killed hundreds of people in the past week. Colonel Daniel Vollot, the local commander of U.N. troops, told Reuters the truce that took effect at midnight local time would be difficult to implement. “On the ground it will be very difficult. In the past what I have seen is that every day we have an agreement, the next day we have war,” Vollot told Reuters. Resident Claude Watum said there had been renewed violence after the deadline. “The cease-fire exists only on paper. In practice the killings and kidnaps continue,” he said. Full Story
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