Early one eastern Congolese morning six months ago, Josephine was sleeping in her hut, dreaming about selling her crops. She heard people singing victory songs, thinking it was part of her dream, but gunshots jolted her awake. She could see in the light of dawn that the next village was on fire. She saw people fleeing toward her village, some being shot as they ran. She quickly herded her four children into the tall grass, where others from her village were already hiding. They watched their village torched by the singing militia, known as Raia Mutumboki, a branch of which is allied to the M23, the latest rebel group to plunge the Congo into full-scale war.
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Congo war, funded by conflict minerals, is the deadliest since World War II
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In Congo, John Prendergast heard of villagers slaughtered with machetes, families fleeing
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He says Western consumer demand for a conflict-free minerals trade is encouraging
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He thinks signs are hopeful as Congo, other African nations sign framework for peace
When I asked @placeholder why all this was happening, she replied, "The war is over the minerals, nothing else."