At least 14 people have been killed in a new attack carried out in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group linked to the so-called Islamic State (IS), local authorities have confirmed.
The attack took place on Friday in the village of Kyanganda in the Bapere sector of North Kivu province, local media reported this Monday.
“ADF terrorists bypassed the army, which was still in the village of Kambau. They killed 14 people in the neighboring village of Kyanganda,” said Colonel Alain Kiwea, administrator of the territory of Lubero, where the attacked village is located.
Bapere chief Makar Sivikunula told news portal Actualité that “ADF rebels reached the town via trails.”
“They arrested the people of Kyanganda before starting their massacre. Some victims were even tied up before being killed with a machete,” Sivikunula emphasized.
At least 42 people were killed on the 12th in another attack attributed to the ADF in the town of Maakengu, also in Lubero territory.
The ADF is a militia of Ugandan origin, but currently has bases in the neighboring provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, where they carry out frequent attacks and keep the population at bay.
Its goals are vague, extending beyond possible links to the so-called Islamic State (IS), which has sometimes claimed responsibility for its actions.
Although UN Security Council experts have found no evidence of direct IS support for the ADF, the US has since March 2021 identified it as a “terrorist organization” linked to the jihadist group.
Ugandan authorities also accuse the group of organizing attacks on its territory, and in November 2021, the armies of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo launched a joint military operation to combat these rebels.
Since 1998, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been gripped by conflict fueled by more than a hundred rebel groups and the army, despite the presence of a UN mission in the country.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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