37 dead bodies found in Pinga after last week's clashes between militants

37 dead bodies have been found in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo following armed clashes, a conflict monitoring group announced on Friday.
The bodies were found in the city of Pinga and its surroundings on the territory of Walikale, North Kivu province following clashes between two factions of the Nduma Defense of Congo (NDC-R).
NDC-R is a militia that mainly operates in the eastern part of the DRC.
Clashes took place on July 20 in the resource-rich region.
The Forces of the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) have taken control of the city and that the inhabitants who had fled the region began to return home.
On Thursday, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) promised to continue to support FARDC against militias.
On Wednesday, a security meeting was held between MONUSCO Indian Peacekeepers, FARDC and local administrative authorities to discuss the security situation and protect civilians in Pinga.
Attacks on civilians in eastern DRC have multiplied in recent months.
In January, the army launched an offensive against militants in Ituri's gold-rich province as part of a wider offensive launched last October.
Since December 2017, violence in northeastern Ituri has killed nearly 1000 and half a million displaced people, according to the International Crisis Group.
Most militias have put aside their political claims and are involved in ore trafficking.