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A ranger and two civilians were shot dead during a clash in Virunga National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, park authorities and local sources said Thursday.
The incident occurred early Wednesday, and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) said one of its rangers had been shot dead by armed activists, who had been active for a long time in the troubled northern province. Kivu.
Local sources confirmed the death and said two civilians were also killed. But they added that the violence erupted during a building permit dispute in front of an ICCN office in Vitshumbi, a village located in the heart of the park on the shores of Lake Edward.
In a statement, ICCN said the Vitshumbi ranger station had been attacked by "enemy fire", leaving a dead guard and urging others to retaliate "to repel the attack and clear a way out. to leave the confrontation zone ". .
Residents of Vitshumbi, a fishing village located at the south end of Lake Edward, told AFP that the rangers had opened fire on people who were protesting the ban by the police. 39; ICCN to introduce building materials into the park.
"Three people died, two civilians and a forest ranger, and two schoolchildren were wounded," a village official, Destin Katembo, told AFP.
"We all went to the ICCN office and opened fire on two people, a fisherman and a forest ranger, who also died," local fisherman Kambale Sikulisimwa told AFP.
One of the world's largest conservation sites, Virunga National Park is Africa's oldest nature reserve and is renowned for its endangered mountain gorillas.
Covering more than 7,800 square kilometers, the park is located in an eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Uganda and Rwanda, which has been devastated by militia violence.
Many groups of militia and armed gangs crisscross North Kivu for control of territorial and natural resources. The park suspended all tourist activities at the beginning of the year after the kidnapping of two British tourists.
Since the beginning of the year, at least eight of the rangers in the park have been killed by armed groups.
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