Drunken Soldier Opens Fire On 13 Civilians, Including 2-Year Old Girl

The incident occurred at Sange, in the territory of Uvira in South Kivu province of DR Congo, sources said.

The murders incensed locals who laid out the victims’ shrouded bodies.

Youths built a big fire nearby and a local leader vilified the army and demanded that its troops and a UN force stationed in the district pull out.

Captain Dieudonne Kasereka, an army spokesman, said the soldier was “in a state of drunkenness and shot 13 people who died, and wounded nine others”.

The gunman was still armed and on the run, Kasereka added.

“An army delegation and a UN team is in the area to calm the population, which is demonstrating against the army,” he said.

Angry residents blocked Highway 5 which runs through the area, using branches, rocks and burning tyres.

They also displayed the 12 bodies, wrapped in funeral shrouds, at a busy crossroads, blocking traffic, several witnesses told AFP, but removed them later following talks between district representatives and civilian and military officials.

Ndaburwa Rukalisa, a local leader in Sange, said the soldier was a member of the locally based 122nd Battalion of the FARDC.

The identity of the suspected Soldier is yet unknown as at the time of filling this report.