20 dead in dr congo as pygmies bantus clash over caterpillars
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

20 dead in DR Congo as Pygmies, Bantus clash over caterpillars

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice 20 dead in DR Congo as Pygmies, Bantus clash over caterpillars

group of pygmies shelter from the rain in Mubambiro village near Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Lubumbashi , DR Congo - Arab Today

Pygmy-Bantu clashes over a caterpillar collection tax have left 20 people dead in DR Congo and sparked fears of a new flare-up in trouble that over the past two years displaced tens of thousands of people.
Local MP Kalunga Mawazo told AFP on Tuesday that the fresh fighting was triggered by a dispute over the caterpillar harvest, a common food staple for the hunter-gatherer Pygmy people of the Tanganyika region in northern Katanga province.
“The attacks since Sunday left four (Bantu) Lubas and 16 Pygmies dead in a row over the tax traditionally paid to the Bantus by the Pygmies,” Kalunga said.
A local priest who asked not to be named said that “the Pygmies believe they now have the same rights as citizens as the others. They refused to pay this illegal tax and shot two Luba people dead with arrows when they demanded payment.”
Another two Lubas, who are Bantu people, were killed in revenge attacks. The bodies of 16 Pygmies were also found, the priest said.
Tanganyika governor Ngoy Kitangala said that security forces were being dispatched to the area where tension remains extremely high.
Pygmies from the local Twa group have long complained of being marginalized, exploited and despised by Bantu people living in farming communities, saying they treat them like second-class citizens.

Deadly love affair
But it was a love affair between a Bantu and his Pygmy mistress that served as the trigger to repeated clashes between the two communities that broke out in 2013 in northern Katanga, a region as big as Spain.
“A Bantu was surprised in flagrante delicto of adultery with a Pygmy woman,” a Bantu village chief told AFP at the time.
Due to the long simmering problems between the two peoples, the fighting in one of the world’s poorest regions quickly degenerated, unleashing a cycle of revenge killings, looting and the burning of entire villages.
More than 200 people were reported dead in the 2014-2015 violence and tens of thousands fled fighting that pitted bows and arrows against machete blades.
Cohabitation has never been easy between the two communities, with the land-owning Bantus accused of exploiting the hunter-gatherers, paying them meagre wages, or paying them in alcohol and cigarettes for laboring the land.
For generations the Pygmies have wandered the bush and tropical forests of DR Congo, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Cameroon and Gabon.
But their millennial lifestyle is increasingly under threat from deforestation, mining and extensive farming.
Tension with the Bantu people had eased in recent months thanks to mediation efforts by local authorities and UN officials. But in September new clashes near the eastern town of Kabalo left eight dead.

Source: Arab News

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

20 dead in dr congo as pygmies bantus clash over caterpillars 20 dead in dr congo as pygmies bantus clash over caterpillars

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

20 dead in dr congo as pygmies bantus clash over caterpillars 20 dead in dr congo as pygmies bantus clash over caterpillars

 



GMT 09:54 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

'Friendly and kind' N. Korean skaters

GMT 05:17 2024 Wednesday ,07 February

Amazon to open first cashierless shop

GMT 05:04 2024 Tuesday ,06 February

Skincare PR Performance Full Year 2017

GMT 19:57 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Farm-fresh from Kerala to the UAE, in just one day

GMT 10:08 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

Microsoft to open 4 data centres

GMT 10:55 2017 Thursday ,31 August

Labour reforms 'ambitious, balanced, fair'

GMT 08:13 2017 Sunday ,22 January

ADCB win Euromoney prize

GMT 10:54 2013 Saturday ,05 October

Cyrus infamous twerking performance at the MTV

GMT 03:02 2017 Thursday ,16 February

Unruly passenger forces PIA plane to land

GMT 14:38 2014 Tuesday ,25 March

17 killed in 2 attacks in Afghanistan

GMT 09:09 2016 Monday ,22 August

'Marvellous' Rio flames out

GMT 15:16 2016 Sunday ,25 December

Bird Flu in S. Korea Culls over 22 Million Poultry

GMT 13:35 2012 Thursday ,31 May

9 ways to sexually arouse your man

GMT 17:32 2017 Friday ,06 January

Leadership's initiatives are rooted in

GMT 18:35 2016 Thursday ,08 September

Tunisia calls for ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir
 
 Emirates Voice Facebook,emirates voice facebook  Emirates Voice Twitter,emirates voice twitter Emirates Voice Rss,emirates voice rss  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

emiratesvoieen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen
emiratesvoice emiratesvoice emiratesvoice
emiratesvoice
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice