ADF reportedly killed more than 109 civilians in three days
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Beto
Attacks attributed to the ADF reportedly killed more than 109 civilians in three days in the Beni and Mambasa territories, in North Kivu and Ituri. According to Justin Paluku Kavalami of local civil society, this provisional toll could rise, as bodies were buried without being counted, according to Beto.
Attacks attributed to the ADF, an armed group active in eastern DR Congo, targeted the localities of Cantine and Mabalako in the Beni territory on Wednesday and Thursday. More than 50 civilians were killed in Cantine and about ten in Mabalako, according to Justin Paluku Kavalami, a local civil society official. The toll could rise, as several bodies were buried without being counted. “We really no longer know how to count,” he lamented.
In the neighbouring Mambasa territory, two waves of attacks hit thirteen localities and killed at least 49 people, according to Rams Malikidogo, local coordinator of the ADPF. On Tuesday, 35 civilians were killed in eight localities, where 14 people disappeared, twelve homes were burned and nine motorbikes were destroyed. On Thursday 12 November, five other localities were targeted: 14 civilians were killed there and several were abducted.
Faced with these attacks, civil society blames the insufficient number of military personnel on the ground. In Mingazi, only five soldiers were found, Rams Malikidogo pointed out, asking: “What can five men do in the face of an attack of such magnitude?” Civil society is calling for rapid action to protect residents and prevent further attacks.
Similar attacks had already hit Mambasa: an ADF attack in Mambasa had killed 22 civilians and abducted 10 there.
