11 dead as rebels attack military sites in DRCongo city



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A FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) soldier takes cover during an exchange of fire with members of the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) in Opira, North Kivu, January 25, 2018.

A FARDC (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo) soldier takes cover during an exchange of fire with members of the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) in Opira, North Kivu, on January 25, 2018.

Eleven people were killed after separatist insurgents attacked two military camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s main mining center on Sunday, Lubumbashi, the city’s mayor said.

Four members of the security forces and a civilian died along with six of the insurgents, Lubumbashi mayor Ghislain Robert Lubaba Buluma told AFP.

Jeff Mbiya Kadima, a member of a civil society platform working with the government, told AFP that insurgents targeted the Kimbembe and Kibati camps on Sunday morning.

Fortune Mbaya, a civil society leader, said the attackers identified themselves as members of the separatist Bakata-Katanga militia.

Residents reported gunfire in several districts following the assaults.

Lubumbashi is the capital of the Katanga region, rich in mines, and the second largest city in the country.

Former president Joseph Kabila, originally from the region, returned there in December after a power struggle between his supporters and his successor Felix Tshisekedi.

Incursions by the Bataka-Katanga, who are fighting for the region to separate from DR Congo, occur frequently in Lubumbashi. Two policemen and a soldier were killed in the latest attack on September 26.

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