DRC Islamist militia, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) are suspected to be behind the killing of at least 10 people in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Beni, the army says. The attack took place in Rwangoma.
Beni – Ten people were killed overnight in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Beni by suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) Islamist militia, the army said on Thursday.
“Overnight there was an attack by ADF enemies. We lost around 10 civilians,” lieutenant Anthony Mualushayi told AFP. An AFP correspondent saw 10 bodies in the morgue of Beni’s general hospital.
The attack took place in the southeastern Rwangoma.
Local residents, still in a state of shock, were too afraid to speak to AFP, but angry young people paraded through the streets with one of the bodies, shouting anti-government slogans.
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The ADF is the deadliest of an estimated 122 armed militias that roam the mineral-rich east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, many of them a legacy of two regional wars from 1996 to 2003.
BENI, #DRC, July 1 – At least 10 people were killed overnight in a raid on the city of #Beni, and a civil society group and a monitoring body said #Islamist militants were suspected of being behind the attack. Residents said a group of attackers had set several houses on fire. pic.twitter.com/jx0e4tAsxG
— Sahara news (@SaharaNws) July 1, 2021
According to a tally compiled by the DRC’s Catholic church, the ADF has been responsible for at least 6,000 deaths since 2013.
The Kivu Security Tracker (KST) monitor says the ADF, an Islamist group originally from Uganda, has killed more than 1,200 civilians in the Beni area alone since 2017.
On March 10, the US State Department branded the ADF a “foreign terrorist organisation” and said its leader Musa Baluku had pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.
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But experts are still unsure about the extent of links between the ADF and ISIS, which has lost most of its territory in the Middle East but is expanding in Africa.
President Felix Tshisekedi on May 6 proclaimed a “state of siege” in North Kivu and neighbouring Ituri province in a bid to curb bloodshed by the ADF.
Under this, senior civilian officials have been replaced by army officers.
Source: AFP
Picture: AFP
