At Least 80 People Killed In The DRC By Alleged ADF Insurgents

Between Tuesday, May 4, and Friday, May 7, attacks by rebels loyal to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) claimed at least 80 lives in the villages of the Baswagha-Madiwe group in Beni region (North Kivu), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

An army spokesman in the province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lieutenant Colonel Mak Hazukay, stated that the attacks took place primarily on Friday night in the villages of Masala, Mapasana, and Mahini and were attributed to the ADF.

In the previous two weeks, these insurgents had murdered thirty additional villagers in Masau, Mununze, Kabweke, and Manlese.

During their raids, the attackers also set fire to many houses and stole 25 motorcycles.

The people who lived in the areas that these rebels targeted ran away from their houses and sought safety in Kyatsaba, a few neighborhoods in Beni’s western region, and Mabalako, where the General Reference Hospital is overflowing with sick and injured people.

In the Bapakombe-Pendekali region, specifically in Mangina, Mantumbi, Kudukudu, Kalmango, and Beu-Manyama, 123 civilians have been slain in separate attacks ascribed to ADF rebels since May 3, according to the civil society of Beni territory.

Now headquartered in the eastern Congo, the ADF has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State and launches regular attacks, further destabilizing an area that is home to other armed organizations.