Ten women were abducted by an armed group in western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) while searching for food, according to local authorities.
The kidnapping occurred in Kwamouth territory and is blamed on suspected members of the Mobondo militia, a group engaged in a violent ethnic conflict over land and taxes. Security officials reported that the women were seized while foraging in a forest.
One of the abducted women managed to escape her captors and alerted authorities to the ordeal, providing critical details of the incident.
The Mobondo militia is largely composed of fighters from the Yaka ethnic group. The conflict began in 2022 when a Teke chief increased land taxes, a move rejected by the Yaka community. The dispute over customary land rights and access escalated, leading to the formation of the militia and intense fighting with their rivals.
The violence in Kwamouth has had a devastating human cost. Since the fighting began, at least 3,000 civilians have been reported killed. Congolese armed forces have been deployed to the area in an attempt to end the tribal clashes, but the attacks have persisted.
This ongoing crisis in the west has been largely overshadowed by the major conflict between government forces and M23 rebels in the eastern part of the country.
