A militia attack killed at least 69 people in Ituri province in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local and security sources told AFP on Saturday.

Two ethnic groups – the Hema and the Lendu – have been engaged in a long-running conflict in Ituri, a gold-rich province that borders Uganda and South Sudan.

Armed men claiming to protect the Lendu carried out attacks in several villages on April 28, local and security sources told AFP, killing at least 69 people.

These attacks followed an earlier assault by another armed group which claims to fight for the Hema community.

Bodies yet to be recovered

More than 70 people were killed when the pro-Lendu armed men launched the retaliatory attacks in late April, civil society leader Dieudonne Losa told AFP.

On condition of anonymity, two other security sources confirmed the attacks, with one stating a death toll of at least 69, including 19 militia members.

"Only 25 bodies have been buried," Losa said on Saturday, adding several bodies had yet to be recovered.

The United Nations' mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) said on April 30 that it had rescued "nearly 200 people caught under fire."

UN condemns recent attacks

On Saturday it said it "strongly condemns the recent wave of deadly attacks targeting civilians" in the restive east.

The eastern DRC region also faces ongoing attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) terrorist group.

Ituri province has been plunged into a humanitarian crisis, with nearly one million internally displaced people, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).