ADF rebels kill at least 44 civilians in DR Congo
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Africanews
Illustrative image · Audy of Course · Pexels · Licence PexelsAttacks by the ADF group, which emerged from former Ugandan rebels and is linked to the Islamic State, have killed at least 44 civilians this week in north-eastern DR Congo, in Ituri. The raids come days after a massacre of 66 people in North Kivu, in a region affected by Ebola, according to humanitarian and security sources cited by Africanews.
Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels, an armed group formed from former Ugandan rebels and linked to the Islamic State organisation, have killed at least 44 civilians this week in north-eastern DR Congo, according to humanitarian and security sources reported by Africanews. The villages targeted are in the Mambasa territory of Ituri, where the Ebola outbreak was first detected six months ago.
These raids come days after the ADF killed 66 people in North Kivu, an attack in which three health workers died and several medical facilities were set on fire. The World Health Organization’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned that the region’s instability is “one of the biggest obstacles” to the response against Ebola.
The outbreak, declared in May, is the worst ever recorded in this vast country, with more than 5,400 deaths. Militias, including the ADF, have also attacked health workers involved in the fight against the virus.
A local official, Gabriel Tonge, describes victims killed with machetes and others shot dead, some bodies already decomposing. The Ugandan and Congolese armies have deployed troops to the area, with no notable success so far.
