At least 12 people were killed in a fresh wave of attacks by fighters linked to the Islamic State-affiliated ADF rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources reported on Wednesday.
This latest violence follows a series of ADF assaults over the Christmas period that claimed 21 lives in North Kivu province.
The overnight attacks, which occurred between Tuesday and Wednesday, targeted two villages in the same region, according to local officials.
In the village of Bilendu, near Manguredjipa, the rebels killed at least eight people, with other sources corroborating the toll.
The attackers also struck the village of Mangoya, where they killed at least four people and set homes on fire, witnesses said.
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), originally from Uganda, have been active in the DRC’s volatile northeast since the mid-1990s, where they have terrorized local communities, leaving thousands of civilians dead.
In 2019, the ADF pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS), which now claims responsibility for some of the group’s attacks, branding them as the Islamic State Central Africa Province.
In response to the ongoing violence, Uganda and the DRC launched a joint military operation against the ADF at the end of 2021, named “Shujaa.”
However, despite efforts from both armies, the offensive has yet to decisively halt the rebels’ attacks.
The military forces have managed to push the fighters into remote, inaccessible areas, but local civilians continue to suffer the brunt of the violence, with the ADF employing brutal tactics in their assaults.
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