18 killed in fighting near DR Congo gold mine: priest

• Eighteen people, including some children, have died in clashes between the DR Congo army and a militia.
• Most of the bodies bore bullet wounds, he said.
• The Malaika militia launched Saturday's attack.

KINSHASA: Eighteen people, including some children, have died in clashes between the DR Congo army and a militia near a disputed gold mine in the country's volatile east, a local priest said Tuesday.

"We, along with the Red Cross, have just buried 18 corpses," Celestin Kijana, the priest at Salamabila said, adding that eight of the dead were children.

Many of the hundreds of children who fled the fighting which broke out Saturday near their school were still missing, he said.

Most of the bodies bore bullet wounds, he said.

"We have also recorded 10 seriously injured people who have been taken to Bukavu," the capital of the adjoining South Kivu province, he said.

Army spokesman Dieudonne Kasereka said six of the assailants were killed and two captured.

Kasereka said a Congolese soldier died in the clashes while two suffered injuries.

The Malaika militia launched Saturday's attack.

The group claims to represent the interests of local people and wants the Democratic Republic of Congo's government to hand over a bigger share of revenues from the Salamabila gold mines.

The Congolese army wrested control of Salamabila on Sunday evening.

In 2017 and 2019, the Malaika militia kidnapped several French and South African employees of Canadian mining giant Banro Corporation, which ran the gold mine.

In September, Banro said it was suspending activities at Salamabila, an open-cast mine which began commercial operations in 2011, because of "harassment and raids" and attacks on the site and its employees.

DR Congo's mineral-rich but volatile east faces regular attacks from a plethora of militias and rebel groups which operate freely in the region.