42 dead in a new massacre, nearly 150 since the beginning of June

This new massacre brings to nearly 150 the number of people killed by the Allied Democratic Forces, a group affiliated with the Islamic State organization, in the north of the North Kivu province since the beginning of the month.

The death toll from killings attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has risen further. In the Beni region, in the east of the country, 42 bodies were found after a killing that occurred on the night of Wednesday June 12 to Thursday June 13, announced Colonel Alain Kiwewa Mitela, administrator of the Lubero territory, where unfolded the facts.

This new massacre brings the number of people killed by the ADF in the north of North Kivu province to nearly 150 since the beginning of the month, according to data from local authorities and civil society.

The ADF, at the origin of the mainly Muslim Ugandan rebels established since the mid-1990s in the east of the DRC, have in recent weeks increased attacks on villages, travelers and health centers, most often looted.

From June 1 to 11, the Islamic State organization claimed responsibility for around fifteen attacks on villages and roads near Beni. They claim to have killed 125 people, almost exclusively civilians. Leon Siviwe, administrative head of Beni-Mbau, gave a count of at least 109 people killed in attacks attributed to the ADF during the first ten days of June. A security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that they had counted 138 deaths over the same period.

The ADF pledged allegiance in 2019 to ISIS, which presents them as its “Central African province” (Iscap), and are also accused of recent attacks on Ugandan soil. At the end of May, the authorities in the Béni region, in the north of the North Kivu province, launched an urgent appeal to the government in the face of the intensification of deadly attacks.