A/HRC/38/31 transform into lethal weapons. Older militia members with better equipment such as traditional firearms or hunting weapons, and sometimes with automatic weapons, followed in the last line. 33. The number of militia members in an operational group varied but was generally between 15 and 30, most of whom were children. At the head of each group was a “general” or “capita” During the operations, the Kamuina Nsapu militia almost always wore the same distinctive clothing: Red headbands, with small knives and jujus around the neck. The Kamuina Nsapu militia managed in a very short time to recruit militia members, carry out attacks in the five provinces of Kasaï and take control of villages and towns for several weeks or even months at a time. 34. Since 2017, the militia has become increasingly violent and its attacks have taken on an ethnic character outside areas where the language of the Luba people is spoken. C. Bana Mura militias 35. The Bana Mura militias are made up mostly of Chokwe men, but also include some Pende and Tetela men. They were set up in February and March 2017 in certain parts of the Kamonia territory and the town of Tshikapa, in Kasaï Province, in response to the attacks by the Kamuina Nsapu militia, which is Luba, against Chokwe and Pende people. 36. The Bana Mura militiamen had connections with certain representatives of the State. In the town of Kamonia, meetings were held between political and security authorities and local chiefs in order to set up militia groups. Some local leaders, in particular the chief of the village of Muyeji, played an important role in the organization of the Bana Mura militias. While it is difficult to find a shared chain of command, there were links between the various Bana Mura militias. For example, weapons distributions organized by the local authorities took place in several parts of the territory of Kamonia. 37. The Bana Mura militiamen were for the most part locally recruited young men between the ages of 18 and 22. The militiamen often had new weapons (machetes and hunting rifles). 38. The operations carried out by the Bana Mura militias were particularly violent and were often conducted with the defence and security forces, and sometimes under their command. In other cases, the Bana Mura militias operated alone, with the defence and security forces refraining from intervening to stop the violence and help the victims. Recently, the defence and security forces have sometimes engaged the Bana Mura militias. VII. Establishment of the facts and circumstances A. April–August 2016: Beginning of the violence in Dibaya territory, Kasaï Central 39. The search of the home of the customary chief, Kamuina Nsapu, on 3 April 2016 and the subsequent establishment of his “political and customary” movement, followed by the recruitment of militia members, marked the onset of the violence in Dibaya territory of Kasaï Central. Between May and August 2016, several hundred militia members, for the most part girls and boys, were thus recruited in his village and in Dibaya territory. 40. Beginning in June, the Kamuina Nsapu militia set up barriers around the village of Kamuina Nsapu to control the movement of the police, the military and other representatives of the State. On 22 July, a first attack was launched against symbols of the State, leading to the destruction of the police station in the village of Mfuamba. The next day, the village of the Ntenda customary chief, who was in conflict with the Kamuina Nsapu customary chief, was attacked. This was the first deadly attack by the militia, and it left at least six dead, four persons with bullet wounds and over a hundred houses burned. 8 GE.18-10936