11 Persons, Including Child, Killed in Rebel Raids in Congo

Eleven people, including a child were killed in Democratic Republic of Congo, as rebels attacked two military posts in the southeastern mining hub of Lubumbashi, authorities said on Sunday.

Provincial Interior Minister Moise Mpanga stated that the government forces were able to repel the twin attacks by dozens of armed militants, affirming that the situation is now fully under control.

Three Congolese soldiers, seven rebel fighters and one 10-year-old girl died in the fighting, Mpanga said.

Congo’s second-largest city is the capital of the mineral-rich province of Haut-Katanga, where mining companies such as Ivanhoe and MMG have concessions.

The attacks follow an incursion into Lubumbashi last September by pro-independence rebels, who beheaded two policemen and killed one soldier, as they were trying to seize strategic buildings before they were pushed back.