Rebels said on Thursday that at least 54 people were killed in renewed tribal fighting in northeast Congo, close to the town of Bunia where an international force has been deployed to keep the peace. A spokesman for the mainly Hema PUSIC rebel group said militias allied to the Lendu tribe attacked the town of Tchomia, around 50 km (30 miles) east of Bunia on the shores of Lake Albert, on Tuesday morning. “The attack was carried out by Lendu militia and rebels of the RCD-ML,” the Congolese Rally for Democracy-Kisangani, Kisembo Bitamara told Reuters by telephone from western Uganda. “The attackers burnt three houses but we killed 32 of them before they fled in to the mountains.” United Nations sources in Bunia said they also had reports of fighting in Tchomia. Fighting around the town last month is thought to have killed more than 350 people. It is difficult to confirm death tolls in the remote region. A French-led international was sent to Bunia in June to intervene after massive rights abuses and fighting killed hundreds of civilians there, but it does not have the mandate to go beyond Bunia. Full Story
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