At least 24 civilians were killed in two days in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in attacks attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group, a local source learned on Wednesday (August 26th).
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" Twenty bodies were discovered Monday in the villages of Mapasana and Mabuo ", in the territory of Beni, North Kivu, Kinos Kathuho, head of local civil society, told AFP. On Tuesday, four other bodies were found after another attack, he added. The administrator of the territory Donat Kibwana confirmed these attacks, without giving an assessment.
According to an NGO, the Study Center for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights (Cepadho), “ 40 civilians have been killed by the ADF ” in the past ten days in Beni territory. For this organization working in the region, " 794 civilians have been massacred by the ADF " since the launch against them of large-scale operations launched by the army at the end of October 2019.
The ADF were originally Ugandan Muslim rebels who settled in eastern DRC in 1995. Their recruitment has since widened to other nationalities and they have mingled with the local population.
The ADF have been accused by the Congolese authorities and the United Nations of being responsible for the massacres of more than 1,000 civilians in the Beni region since 2014. This armed group, folded in on itself, did not attack the borders of the country. Uganda has been a neighbor for years. ISIS has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks carried out by the ADF, without compelling evidence of true affiliation with the jihadist group.