Eighteen civilians, including thirteen seriously injured following a deadly attack carried out on February 15, 2022 by militiamen from 'Bon Temple de Dieu', a CODECO armed group faction, in the locality named Scierie Abelkoze, Ituri, were airlifted by MONUSCO to Bunia on Wednesday, February 16, 2022.

Scierie Abelkoze is located near the mining town of Mungwalu, 85 km from Bunia, in the territory of Djugu. Among the victims were nine children, including three babies, as well as five women. Thirteen of them were seriously injured during the attack which also killed eighteen people, including six women and five children.

The injured were admitted to a medical facility in Bunia on Wednesday afternoon.

The evacuation was carried out at the request of the NGO ‘’Médecins Sans Frontières’’ (MSF) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The attack on the village Scierie Abelkoze took place around four a.m. Residents who tried to flee were taken hostage by the militiamen.

Until Wednesday morning, the local civil society reported that searches were continuing to identify all the victims.