At Least 40 Killed in Attacks by Allied Democratic Forces in Eastern Congo

An Islamic State-affiliated group attacked villages in Congo near the border with Uganda, killing at least 40 people and burning and looting homes, a local civil society group said Friday. The attacks were carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces overnight from Wednesday through Thursday afternoon, according to Charité Banza, the leader of the Ituri civil society group, and Kinos Katua, a member of the group who lives in the area.

Banza told the Associated Press that 25 people were killed in border villages in the Beni territory of North Kivu while 15 others were killed in Ituri province.

The death toll may rise because several residents were still missing after the attacks, Katua said. Los Angeles Times reported the assaults took place in the volatile eastern border region where the Allied Democratic Forces has long operated. The Allied Democratic Forces, which has roots in Uganda and which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2019, routinely attacks civilians.

The ADF is one of the numerous groups operating in Congo. ” The group’s latest assault follows a pattern of violence against populated areas. ” Los Angeles Times reported that Congo also faces attacks from roughly 100 other rebel groups, most prominently the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, which has seized key cities in the eastern region.

Charité Banza and Kinos Katua provided the casualty figures and details of the burning and looting to the Associated Press from the affected areas. Their accounts paint a picture of coordinated strikes that stretched across two provinces and continued into Thursday afternoon.

The scale of the latest killings, at least 40 confirmed dead with more potentially unaccounted for, places it among the deadliest ADF actions in recent years.

The group’s allegiance to Islamic State has drawn international attention even as it maintains its long-standing presence along the Uganda-Congo border.