ISIL-LINKED REBEL FIGHTERS BLAMED AFTER 38 KILLED IN EASTERN DRC

Sat 08 June 2024:

Rebel fighters associated with ISIL (ISIS) have killed at least 38 people in a nighttime assault on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to local officials and a regional civil society leader. Armed with guns and machetes, the attackers targeted residents in Beni territory, North Kivu province, on Friday night, reported local official Fabien Kakule.

District official Leon Kakule Siviwe attributed the recent spike in violence to the attackers exploiting a minimal security presence. Civil society leader Justin Kavalami identified the assailants as members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group originally based in Uganda that pledged allegiance to ISIL in 2018. The ADF has been responsible for numerous attacks, including another recent assault that killed at least 16 people earlier in the week.

Despite joint operations by the Congolese and Ugandan armies since late 2021, efforts to curb ADF attacks in North Kivu and neighboring Ituri have been unsuccessful. The violence in eastern DRC, exacerbated by numerous armed groups including the Rwandan-backed M23, has displaced millions.

Over 6.9 million people were displaced by the end of last year, with more than 1.6 million fleeing their homes in North Kivu since March 2022 due to escalating hostilities.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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