Officials have reported that 13 people were killed when a soldier in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo opened fire on family members and others who had buried his son before he could return home to attend the ceremony.
The soldier’s wife, in-laws and two of his children were killed in the attack late Saturday in the village of Nyakova on the banks of Lake Albert in the province of Ituri, according to Lt. Jules Ngongo, a spokesman for the army in Ituri province, where the killings occurred.
The unidentified soldier also killed eight other children.
When the soldier returned home from his duty station at another village in the province, he discovered that his family and neighbors had gathered to mourn his son, who died on Thursday due to natural causes, according to Baraka Muguwa Oscar, the village chief.
“This soldier did not like the fact that his son … was buried without his approval and in his absence,” Oscar said.
The soldier who fled the scene after the attack is being sought by search teams made up of Congolese military personnel.
“No matter what the case, the time, or the circumstances, you can’t take a person’s life. This is an act of indiscipline that will be dealt with by the courts,” said Ngongo, the army spokesperson.
Source-Aljazeera
