Beni – Twenty-nine people were killed by a notorious rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo at the weekend, local sources said on Tuesday.
Billed by the so-called Islamic State as its local affiliate, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) have been accused of killing thousands of civilians in the region.
A soldier and 28 civilians died when ADF fighters on Sunday evening attacked Masambo and three other villages in the Beni region in North Kivu province, sources said.
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“Twenty-nine dead 28 soldiers and an army captain,” Ricardo Rupande, a local civil society leader, told AFP.
Some of the victims were killed in their homes and others in the bush, Winye wa Benga, the headman of Masambo village, said.
On Monday, he gave a toll of at least 11 people killed and two kidnapped.
The ADF was historically a Ugandan rebel coalition whose biggest group comprised Muslims opposed to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
It established itself in eastern DRC in 1995, becoming the deadliest of scores of outlawed forces in the troubled region.
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The Ugandan army launched an offensive against the group at the end of November on DRC territory along with Congolese forces.
The adjoining provinces of North Kivu and Ituri have been under a “state of siege” since May last year, with the army and police replacing the local administration.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter / @DanielLutaaya
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