ADF Militias Kill 9 Locals in DR Congo
DR Congo’s armed forces had recently freed and handed over 40 locals captured by the extremist group in the country to MONUSCO, the United Nations peacekeepers.
The Assistant Mayor of the country’s Oicha Council, Kambale Kibwana, said an infant was among the victims of the terrorist attack, adding that their bodies are now in the Oicha General Hospital’s mortuary.
“The death toll is nine, plus one child and ten houses burnt down. Up till now, three persons are still unaccounted for. The search continues within the area in the hope of finding some survivors. The population is in shock and people have been plunged into hopelessness,” Kibwana told journalists in Congo. “We have gone through one year without any attacks, and nobody was expecting this.”
The president of the local civil society organisation, Isaac Kavalami, described the incident as “distressing”.
The country’s armed forces acknowledged the attack but refused to give any casualty figures. “All the necessary measures have been taken to track down the group that committed the crime,” declared Colonel Mak Hazukay, spokesperson of Sokola 1 operations. He called on the population “to be vigilant and avoid the hinterlands of the East on the national road number 4”.
The attack comes two days after another one carried out by the same assailants in the locality of Totolito in Kilometre 20 on the Mbau-Kamango road, where at least 14 civilians were killed.
According to local authorities, this is a resurgence of attacks after several months of calm.
On Nov. 30, the DR Congo’s armed forces freed and handed over 40 locals captured by the extremist group in the country to MONUSCO, the United Nations peacekeepers. Twenty-three minors were among the hostages rotting away in the ADF’s terrorist captivity before the forces came to their rescue.
A terrorist attack in the Oicha council claimed the lives of nine people, including an infant, with bodies taken to the local hospital mortuary. The assistant mayor, Kambale Kibwana, reported that three people remain missing, with the area in shock as it had been a year without attacks.
Local civil society leader, Isaac Kavalami, labeled the incident distressing, while the country's armed forces avoided specifying casualties but assured that measures are in place to track down the attackers known to have struck previously in Totolito.
The attack marks a resurgence following months of calm, and Colonel Mak Hazukay advised civilians against traveling the eastern hinterlands. DR Congo's armed forces recently rescued 40 captives from the extremist group, transferring them to MONUSCO, with many of the freed being minors previously held by the ADF.
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