About 37 killed in DR Congo attack over stolen cattle

Some 37 people have been killed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in an attack described as a revenge killing over stolen cattle.

According to AFP, the incident took place on Saturday in a village in the province of South Kivu.

The dead reportedly included woman and children, who had been shot and stabbed or burned inside their homes.

Some of the victims were killed inside the village church, where they had spent the night.

The victims were all of the Bafuliru ethnic background.

It was not immediately clear who had been behind the attack. However, there has been an ongoing conflict between the Bafuliru and Barundi communities in the area.

South Kivu’s Interior Minister Jean-Julien Miruho said it was “a problem of (stolen) cattle, and one side went to seek revenge.”

Additionally, the provincial governor Marcellin Cishambo confirmed that the incident was about “a dispute over cows,” saying, “The problem is that everyone in this area carries a weapon.”

The eastern Congo has experienced interminable cycles of violence since 1998.