Congo Deadly Attack: At least 22 civilians were killed by extremist rebels in eastern Congo – the group’s second large-scale deadly attack in weeks, local officials said on Saturday.
Nicolas Kamble, mayor of Oicha commune, said Allied Democratic Forces fighters, which have ties to the Islamic State group, attacked people in the Beni region of North Kivu province late Friday.
“The enemy hit them badly and as we are talking, at least 22 civilians have been killed who are already in the morgue,” Kamble said on Saturday.
Violence has raged for decades in eastern Congo where some 120 armed groups are fighting to defend land, resources, power and some their communities.
Attacks by rebel groups such as the ADF have increased in recent days.
370 people died last year
According to the UN, since April last year, at least 370 civilians have been killed in ADF attacks and several hundred people have been abducted, including a large number of children.
The group, which originally operated in North Kivu province, has spread to neighboring Ituri province, where more than 144,000 people have been displaced between January and February, according to UN efforts by the Congolese army and Ugandan army to relocate them. Pushing back has yielded little result. ,
Friday’s attack came days after the ADF killed more than 30 civilians, including women and children, between the Irumu and Mambasa areas in Ituri.
A spokesman for the Congolese army in Beni, Captain Antony Mwalushayi, said Friday’s attack was in retaliation for a large-scale offensive the army has been carrying out in the region.
(with inputs from AP)
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