Beni – A rebel organisation feared to have linked up with the Islamic State group on Friday killed five villagers in an attack in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official said.
The ADF group, which originated in western Uganda in the 1990s with the aim of creating an Islamic state, typically attacks remote villages, massacres inhabitants and abducts survivors.
Four men and a woman died in the attack by Allied Democratic Forces guerrillas on Kasanza village in Beni region, said official Kakule Kalunga.
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“Several houses were also set on fire. Tomorrow a Red Cross team will go into the forest to search for other bodies since others were abducted by these rebels,” he said, adding that the village was now empty.
The rebels have recently been dislodged from their main strongholds in the forest in joint operations conducted by the DRC army and peacekeepers.
The ADF emerged as a rebel movement in neighbouring Uganda in 1996 but has been active in the eastern DRC for nearly 30 years. It is accused of killing more than 6 000 civilians since 2013.
Since April 2019, ISIS has claimed responsibility for some of their attacks, and in March this year Washington placed the ADF on a list of “terrorist organisations” affiliated with ISIS.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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