Dongo conflict

Date	October 2009 – 13 December 2009
Location	Dongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Belligerents

Resistance Patriots of Dongo

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Supported by:

MONUC

Rwanda (alleged)

Commanders and leaders

Udjani Mangbama

Joseph Kabila

Casualties and losses

~100 killed in total
168,000 civilians displaced

The Dongo conflict was an armed conflict centered in the town of Dongo, on the left bank of the Ubangi River in the Kungu territory of Sud-Ubangi District, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Fighting started in late October 2009 as a conflict between members of two communities over access to fishing ponds: the villages (Enyele and Monzaya) are of the same tribe (the Lobalas). By 22 December 2009, more than 168,000 people had fled their homes, many to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo.

According to Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende, a certain Edo Bokoto, who had been suspended from his post of sector chief, mobilized about 10 men from his community who wanted to take control of fish ponds which belong to people from Enyele and Monzaya villages. They started to attack people from outside their community and seven policemen who intervened in the fighting were killed. The Lobalas of Enyele attacked those of Monzaya. By 5 November 2009 at least 16,000 civilians had fled to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo (ROC) and Dongo had become a ghost town.

Further to the south, in Saba-Saba and in the Bomboma area, new fighting started on 17 November and the residents and the refugees from Dongo had to flee. The refugees include members of the DRC's navy, which patrols the Ubangi River. They had to flee with their families because they had neither weapons nor ammunition to protect themselves. More clashes occurred in the village of Buburo, which was attacked on 20 November. Although the inhabitants had already fled, this didn't stop the attackers from destroying the houses there, including the UNHCR offices, which had earlier evacuated its staff. By 30 November 2009 more than 70,000 people had been displaced. About half of the displaced remained inside DRC, taking temporary shelter in locations such as Kungu, Bokonzi, Bomboma and Bonzene. The rest of the displaced crossed the Ubangi River into ROC.

...
Wikipedia