Mai Mai warriors have slaughtered some 100 civilians and seven military officers in southeastern Congo since January, often mutilating bodies and draining their blood, Congolese military officials said Monday. The killings near the town of Kitenge, about 435 miles north of the provincial capital Lubumbashi highlight the challenges for a 10,800-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s lawless east.
| Somehow I don't normally equate being slaughtered and having my blood drained after my body's been mutilated with a "challenge." I might find a stronger term... |
"It would be lying to say that these atrocities are not happening. We think at least a hundred people have been killed within a 100 kilometer radius of Kitenge since January," Gen. Alengbia Nzambe, Katanga’s military commander, told Reuters in Lubumbashi. The killings have largely been perpetrated by men belonging to a Mai Mai group led by Gen. "Chinja Chinja," literally translated as "The Ripper," who commanded troops hostile to the previous government during Congo’s war, Nzambe said.
| Mutilating bodies and draining the blood sounds pretty hostile to me... |
Congolese military officers did not ascribe political motives to the attack, but said "Chinja Chinja" was trying to make a name for himself by creating a cult of fear and brutality.
| Doing a bang-up job of that, I'd say... |
Many of the bodies found were severely mutilated and disemboweled, with their sexual organs cut off and their bodies drained for their blood, according to Nzambe and civilians who had fled to Lubumbashi. Congolese military officials say "Chinja Chinja" is the last remaining militia leader in the north of Katanga province who is unwilling to integrate into the new Congolese army.
I wonder how many other "Chinja Chinjas" have integrated into the new Congolese army.. |