By AFP
Armed men in eastern DR Congo have killed two Chinese nationals and two soldiers, a local official said Tuesday, in the latest violence to hit the turbulent region.
The attack occurred on Saturday night at a Chinese-operated gold mine in the village of Misisi, in eastern South Kivu province, according to local administrator Sammy Kalondji. Unidentified gunmen exchanged fire with soldiers guarding the mine, he explained, killing two of them along with two Chinese nationals.
The assailants also shot and wounded three civilians, including one Chinese national and a Guinean interpreter, making off with “suitcases full of money, mobile phones and documents,” Kalondji told AFP.
AFP was unable to independently confirm the details of the attack. Militias have plagued eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for decades, a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.
Attacks on mining sites in gold-rich South Kivu, where many Chinese nationals are involved in the industry, are also common. Last month, four people — including two Chinese people — were also killed in the province.
