Eleven civilians were killed by jihadist fighters from the notorious ADF group over the past two days in eastern DR Congo, oficials said Sunday. “We have just lost another seven people, including a woman, massacred in the Gala district” overnight Saturday, Lewis Thembo, president of the local civil service organisation in Bulongo, AFP reported.
Shops and a pharmacy were looted by the “ADF enemies” who waged the attack, Thembo said, denouncing “failures in military command.” North Kivu, where Bulongo is located, and neighbouring Ituri province, have been under a “state of siege” since May to curb ADF bloodshed. But the violence continues.
Contacted by AFP, Bulongo Mayor Jean-Paul Kahindo confirmed the killings. Four civilians were also killed the previous night in an attack near Bulongo also attributed to the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces).
According to a respected US-based monitor, the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), some 120 armed groups operate in eastern DR Congo, of which the ADF is considered to be the deadliest.
The DRC’s Catholic Church says the ADF has killed around 6,000 civilians since 2013, while KST blames it for more than 1,200 deaths in the Beni area alone since 2017.
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