27th March, 2018
A Congolese militia leader and a policeman have been arrested for the murder of two UN researchers in troubled Kasai province in 2017, an official said on Tuesday.
Swedish-Chilean National, Zaida Catalan and American Michael Sharp were killed in March 2017 at the height of the conflict in Kasai where the UN is trying to stem a humanitarian crisis.
The grisly killings shocked the UN.
Catalan was decapitated.
Issa Assumani, Army Commander in Kasai Central Province, said that Vincent Manga, Head of the Kamuina Nsapu militia, had been arrested along with a local policeman on suspicion of being responsible for the crime.
The violence in Kasai began when the central government in Kinshasa refused to recognise the appointment of a traditional chief.
The chief – who has since been killed – set up the Kamuina Nsapu militia and the state in turn sent the army to quell the insurgency.
Thousands were killed in the fighting between the Kamuina Nsapu and the army, with the UN uncovering about 80 mass graves in the area in 2017, and atrocities reported on both sides.