At least 11 dead in Democratic Republic of Congo in double attack claimed by ISIS

At least eleven people were killed on Saturday March 23 in a double attack attributed to ADF rebels around the town of Beni, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, AFP learned on Sunday March 24 from local administrative sources.

The first part of the attack “a took place during the night from Saturday to Sunday and unfortunately, we have just lost six civilians”, an administrative official told AFP in Matembo, at the northern entrance to Beni. Like the other people interviewed, he attributes this killing to the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces), an armed group of Ugandan origin affiliated with the Islamic State organization.

No definitive assessment

“After the ADF killed in Matembo, they came to us in Sayo and after their passage, we deplore the death of five people”, explained a neighborhood leader to Sayo. A notable from the Beni territory specified that “For Sayo, we do not yet have the definitive assessment because the enemy continues to crisscross the area”. The attack was claimed by ISIS, which recognizes the ADF as its branch in Central Africa.

When contacted, the army was unable to communicate on this double attack. The ADF has been established since the mid-1990s in eastern DRC, where it has killed thousands of civilians. At the end of 2021, the Ugandan and Congolese armies launched a joint military operation against them, called “Shujaa”, without succeeding so far in stopping their abuses.