A militia attack on a gold mine in the northeastern village of Gambala in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) killed six Chinese miners and two Congolese soldiers, a civil society group said on Thursday, in the most recent incidence of violence in the resource-rich region.

A militia known as the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, or CODECO, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group comprises various militia groups, primarily from the Lendu farming community. According to the African Center for the Study and Research on Terrorism, CODECO’s attacks resulted in the deaths of almost 1,800 individuals and 500 injured within four years leading up to 2022.

The conflict in Eastern Congo has been ongoing for decades, pitting government forces against hundreds of armed groups who are vying for control of the region’s vast resources.

Recent months have seen an escalation of violence as security forces continue to engage these armed groups in the region.

In this incident, the attackers killed six Chinese miners and two Congolese troops and abducted two other miners, whose whereabouts remain unknown.