Nearly 150 dead since the beginning of June: the death toll from killings attributed to the ADF group, affiliated with the Islamic State organization, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, rose further on Thursday, with 42 people killed in a new attack. Colonel Alain Kiwewa Mitela, administrator of the Lubero territory, where the events took place, in the Beni region, told AFP that 42 bodies had been found after this killing, which occurred during the night from Wednesday to Thursday.
This new massacre brings to nearly 150 the number of people killed by the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) in the north of the North Kivu province since the beginning of the month, according to data from local authorities and civil society.
The ADF, originally mainly Muslim Ugandan rebels, have been established since the mid-1990s in eastern DRC, where they have killed thousands of civilians. In recent weeks, they have increased attacks on villages, travelers and health centers, most often looted.
Concerning the latest massacre, the president of civil society on site, Seba Paluku, had previously declared to AFP that he had counted 41 bodies, some of which “tied up” And “decapitated”. “I left with the soldiers to the scene of the tragedy”, he explained. “The bodies are still lying on the ground, there is no way to transport them because the vehicles cannot reach them.”
Samuel Kakule, president of civil society in Mangurujipa, a town near the site of the attack, said he was informed on Wednesday of “the presence of the ADF enemy”. Later“they fired on the peaceful population and the first victims began to arrive at the hospital”, he related.
A call for help to the government
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 declared on condition of anonymity that they had counted 138 deaths over the same period.
The ADF swore allegiance in 2019 to IS, 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 of the Béni region, in the north of the province of North Kivu, launched an urgent appeal to the government in the face of the intensification of deadly attacks. “Our population is tired of burying every day” civilians, Léon Kakule Siviwe, head of the Beni-Mbau sector, told AFP. “We launch a vibrant appeal to the country’s authorities and ask them to help us restore peace,” he added, putting the number of deaths at three on Friday then four on Saturday. Around ten people are also missing, he said.
At the end of 2021, Kampala and Kinshasa launched a joint military operation against them, called “Shujaa”, without succeeding so far in putting an end to their abuses. “Without being able to neutralize the ADF, these operations disperse them deep into Congolese territory where they attack civilians,” Reagan Miviri, a researcher at the Congolese Ebuteli Institute, explained to AFP.
