Two local human rights groups said on Wednesday that suspected Islamist militants have killed at least 12 civilians and burned homes and motorcycles during raids on two villages in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Activists said the fighters, believed to be from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), Ugandan militia operating in eastern Congo since the 1990s, attacked Mutuheyi and Mapendo villages in Ituri province on Sunday night.
Since launching a joint military operation against the ADF in November, Congo and Uganda have claimed to have captured several ADF jungle camps, but militia attacks on civilians have not stopped.
Christophe Munyanderu, the head of a local rights group, said the attackers came from bases in nearby North Kivu province and killed 13 people, burned four motorbikes and set six houses on fire.
Another rights group president, Patrick Musubao, said 12 people had been killed. He said the victims were shot or killed with sharp weapons.
He said he had warned officials about the ADF’s presence in the area before the attack, but there was no response.
“Now a dozen people have died innocently,” Musubao told Reuters.
Army Jules Nongo Tshikudi confirmed the attack in the villages, but did not give the death toll or who was responsible. He said there was nothing the soldiers could do to stop the attack.
“The army has not received any warning. What is important here is that peace be established in the region and the army does not rest.
No group has claimed responsibility for the killings. The ADF does not have a spokesperson and does not usually comment on its operations.
The ADF pledged allegiance to Islamic State in mid-2019. Islamic State has in turn claimed responsibility for some of the ADF violence, including the bombings in Uganda and Congo late last year.
However, UN researchers have found no evidence of IS command and control over the group’s operations.
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