Seven DR Congo soldiers killed fighting armed groups

By : AFP

Date: 14 August 2021 8:28pm WAT

This general view shows currency traders cabins at 'Kintambo Magasin' market in Kinshasa on August 11, 2021. - How to make the Congolese franc a strong enough currency to regain its rights against the omnipotent US dollar. The "de-dollarisation" of the economy, a sea serpent of Congolese financial policy, has just been put back on the drawing board in Kinshasa. The US dollar made its home in the former Zaire during the four-figure hyperinflation of the Mobutu years, as it did in other countries in the grip of chaos in Africa and elsewhere. (Photo by Arsene MPIANA / AFP)

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Seven Democratic Republic of Congo soldiers have been killed in three days of fighting against armed groups in the east of the country that also left 18 militiamen dead, the army said on Saturday.

The troops had been searching for army deserters on the plateaus of Uvira and Fiz, in South Kivu province, spokesman Captain Dieudonne Kasereka said.

The operation was launched Thursday after an attack by fighters of the Makanika Twigwaneho Ngumino/FNL coalition of armed groups who tried to seize a military position, he added.

The Hauts Plateaux region is the scene of a conflict between armed groups formed on a communal basis, notably Tutsi Congolese with distant Rwandan origins, the Banyamulenge, and other communities.

The coalition “Twigwaneho” (self-defense) and “Ngumino” (We Stay Here in Kinyamulenge) is composed of members of the Banyamulenge community.