ADF rebels kill at least 52 civilians in eastern DRC
According to the Regional Congolese Army spokesperson, Lieutenant Elongo Kyondwa Marx, ADF rebels, armed with machetes and other weapons, attacked the regions in retaliation after being defeated by Congolese forces.
Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels have reportedly killed at least 52 civilians in the Beni and Lubero regions of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the past few days, United Nations and local officials have confirmed.
The development comes just weeks after ADF rebels killed at least 38 people and injured 15 others during a brutal attack on a Catholic church in Komanda, eastern DRC.
The ADF, originally a Ugandan rebel group, is an affiliate of the larger ISIS terror group, a militant extremist organisation that seeks to establish a global caliphate under its strict interpretation of Islamic law. ISIS is notorious for brutal tactics, including mass killings and terrorist attacks.
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ISIS officially recognised the ADF as an affiliate in 2018 and began claiming attacks linked to the group from April 2019, starting with an assault on a Congolese army base near Kamango.
According to the Regional Congolese Army spokesperson, Lieutenant Elongo Kyondwa Marx, ADF rebels, armed with machetes and other weapons, attacked the regions in retaliation after being defeated by Congolese forces.
Lubero Bapere sector chief Macaire Sivikunula added that the rebels rounded up the victims first before ruthlessly executing them.
"When they arrived, they first woke the residents, gathered them in one place, tied them up with ropes, and then began to massacre them," he told Reuters over the weekend.
According to Alain Kiwewe, a military administrator for the Lubero territory, about 30 civilians were killed in the village of Melia alone.
"Among the victims were children and women, while several houses were set on fire," he said.
On Monday, the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) condemned the latest incidents, noting that the death toll may rise owing to the violent nature of the attacks.
"These attacks targeting civilians, which add to the atrocities committed during the night of July 26 to July 27 in Komanda (Irumu territory, Ituri), are intolerable and constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights," said Bintou Keita, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the DRC and Head of MONUSCO.
"I extend my sincere condolences, and those of the United Nations, to the bereaved families and communities, and reaffirm my solidarity with the affected populations."
MONUSCO similarly urged foreign armed groups in DRC to lay down their arms unconditionally and return to their countries of origin, while at the same time imploring Congolese authorities to conduct thorough investigations to identify those responsible for the continued attacks.
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