Militia beheads 42 police officers

BENI, Congo — A Congolese militia group has decapitated 42 police officers after ambushing them in Central Kasai province, which has seen a spike in deadly violence in recent months, a local official said Saturday.

Members of the Kamwina Nsapu militia staged Friday’s attack between the cities of Tshikapa and Kananga, according to Kasai Assembly President Francois Kalamba.

Kasai Gov. Alexis Nkande Myopompa said investigations are under way into the decapitations.

Large-scale violence erupted in the Kasai region in August when security forces killed the militia’s leader. More than 400 people have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced since then, according to the U.N. Human Rights Watch.

While the violence is linked to local power struggles, there are also ties to Congo’s political crisis, according to Human Rights Watch. Anger has been growing in the country at longdelayed presidential elections, and dozens were killed in December amid protests as President Joseph Kabila stayed on past the end of his mandate. A deal reached between the ruling party and opposition to hold elections by the end of this year, without Kabila, remains fragile as the U.N. urges its implementation.

The decapitations were announced as the rights group called on Congo’s government to cooperate with U.N. efforts to locate experts, including an American and a Swede, who have been missing in the Kasai region for nearly two weeks. The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo said its movements have been restricted.