{Heavily armed gunmen freed some 300 inmates from a prison in eastern Congo on Saturday, the provincial minister of justice said, amid fears over deteriorating security in the mineral-rich region.}<\/p>\n
Christophe Ndibeche said the attackers easily overpowered the security guards, freeing all the prisoners from the central prison of Butembo, a town in North Kivu province.<\/p>\n
By Sunday evening, authorities had recaptured about 30 of the fugitives, he added.<\/p>\n
“These are enemies of peace who committed this attack to liberate the bandits in the prison. We are going to do everything to find them,” Ndibeche said. <\/p>\n
The assault comes at a time of growing alarm in North Kivu, a mineral-rich province bordering Rwanda and Uganda that has long been plagued by dozens of armed militias. <\/p>\n
Last week, suspected rebels from the Ugandan ADF-NALU group carried out two overnight raids near the town of Beni, 50 km (30 miles) north of Butembo, killing more than 50 people.<\/p>\n
Ndibeche said that highway bandits were the most likely culprits in the prison break given that group\u2019s strong representation among the prison population.<\/p>\n
{{Reuters}}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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