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Militia group in eastern DR Congo transformed into political party

Xinhua, August 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

An armed group that has been fighting for independence of Katanga province in southern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), has been transformed into a political party calling itself "Independentists Movement for African Revolutionaries" (MIRA).

The group, called Mai Mai Bakata Katanga, made the revelations on Tuesday by Nicola Mbokaya, the secretary general of this new political party that is led by former militia leader, Gedeon Kyungu.

"Bakata Katanga has become a political party just like any other party in DR Congo, and our fight will be carried out within the framework of our party," said Mbokaya who was initially a commander in the militia group.

"We shall wage a war against poverty in our province which is the richest in DR Congo, yet our Katanga brothers are the poorest," he said.

The former commander of Bakata Katanga militia said MIRA will neither align itself with the opposition or the president's side.

Between 2004 and 2015, Bakata Katanga militia group carried out deadly atrocities in Mitwaba, Pweto and Manono territories that came to be referred to as "The triangle of death."

In March 2013, the group took control of Lubumbashi town, the headquarters of Katanga province. Endit