DR Congo army kills 23 rebel members

The Congolese army has announced that government solders have killed 23 members of the Codesco rebel group and taken back control of two villages, including one of the group’s important bases in Djugu town in the north-eastern Ituri province.

Codesco has been active in the region for three years.

Its fighters have killed hundreds of civilians and displaced more than 500,000 people.

Earlier this week, the leader of the militia group surrendered to the army along with some of his fighters, and called on other militants to do the same.

The Congolese army is conducting operations against a number of armed groups in mineral-rich eastern Congo where armed conflict has been ongoing for the past two decades.