Raiders attacked a gold mine in Ituri, in the strife-torn northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 35 people, according to local sources.

The CODECO militia, according to Jean-Pierre Bikilisende of the rural Mungwalu village in Djugu, Ituri, carried out the attack on the artisanal mine.

Bikilisende stated that the militia stormed the Camp Blanquette gold mine and that 29 bodies were recovered, with another six burning remains discovered buried at the site.

A four-month-old infant was among the fatalities, he added.

“This is a provisional toll,” he continued, noting that additional individuals had been slain and their remains dumped down mine shafts. He said that several more citizens had gone missing. “The search continues on.”

According to Bikilisende, rescue arrived too late because Camp Blanquette was located in a jungle far from the nearest military base.

At least 50 people were slain in the attack, according to Cherubin Kukundila, a civil leader in Mungwalu. Several individuals were injured, nine of them badly. He told AFP that they were being treated at Mungwalu Hospital.

Mungwalu is seven kilometres (four miles) away from the Camp Blanquette mine.

CODECO has been held responsible for a series of ethnic atrocities in the Ituri area.

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