BENI-Suspected Allied Democratic Forces’ militants have killed over 40 people in twin attacks in eastern DR Congo, local officials said Thursday, in the latest bloodshed across the turbulent region.
The ADF, which the Islamic State group claims as its central African affiliate, is one of the deadliest armed militias in eastern Congo, accused of slaughtering thousands of civilians. Fighters from the group attacked the neighbouring villages of Mukondi and Mausa, in the Beni territory of North Kivu province, during Wednesday evening and the early hours of Thursday, officials said.
“It’s total desolation,” said Kalunga Meso, a local administrator. He told AFP that 38 people had been killed in Mukondi and eight in Mausa, stressing the death toll was provisional. Mumbere Arsene, a local civil-society figure, said 37 people had been killed in Mukondi and eight in Mausa. “All the dead people were killed with knives,” he said. AFP was unable to independently confirm the death toll.
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Dozens of armed groups roam eastern Congo, a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.
The ADF is among the most violent and has been accused of a string of bomb attacks and civilian massacres.
A joint Congolese-Ugandan military operation targeting the militia in the region has been underway since late 2021. but the attacks continue.