Watsa Territory is an administrative area in the

Haut-Uélé Haut-Uélé (French for "Upper Uélé") is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Haut-Uélé, Bas-Uélé, Ituri, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the forme ...

province of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. The administrative center is the town of

Watsa Watsa is a community in the Haut-Uele Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, administrative center of the Watsa Territory. It is served by Watsa Airport, a grass airstrip south of the town. Watsa was the location of the VI battalion ...

Security issues

During the

Second Congo War The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted ...

(1998-2003), in August 1998,

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n troops occupied areas of

including the town of

Durba Dubra (Oromo: "virgin") is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne, about 70 km north of Addis Ababa, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2450 meters above sea level. The ...

, the site of the Gorumbwa, Durba and Agbarabo gold mines. Almost one ton of gold was extracted during the four-year period of occupation, worth about $9 million at the time. At the end of September 2009, fighters from the

Lord's Resistance Army The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is a Christian extremist organization operating in Central Africa and East Africa. Its origins were in the War in Uganda (1986–1994), Ugandan insurgency (1986–1994) against Yoweri Museveni, during which Jo ...

LRA combatants were said to have attacked a number of villages in the Durba/Watsa mining area. As of April 2010 Watsa Territory was thought to have about 13,960 Internally Displaced People.

Divisions

The territory is divided into sectors and chiefdoms: * Andobi Chiefdom * Kebo Chiefdom * Ateru Chiefdom * Andikofa Chiefdom * Gombari Sector * Mari-Minza Chiefdom * Walese Chiefdom * Mangbutu Sector * Kibali Sector

References

Territories of Haut-Uélé Province {{DRCongo-geo-stub