ADF Rebels Attack DR Congo Village, Abduct Many Villagers

Several persons were killed and many others are reported missing in attacks suspected to have been carried out by rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in various localities in eastern DR Congo on Saturday and Sunday Feb. 6.

At least four persons were killed on Saturday night in the village of Mamutole, situated near Mantumbi in Beni territory of North Kivu province.

According to Kinos Katuho, president of the civil society of Mamove, the victims were executed in their houses. 

“The Congolese army did not intervene to save these poor people. There are soldiers in Mantumbi but not in Mamutoli because this village is situated at the boundary between the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu,” Katuho revealed.

The attackers were  said to have come from the neighbouring village of Tandika where they had earlier executed six persons on  the same Saturday, bringing the number of those killed in Oicha to 10 within an interval of 24 hours.

The number of casualties is expected to increase as several persons are still unaccounted for.

In a related incident, six persons were killed by suspected ADF rebels in Beni region to the northeast of the DR Congo where six other persons were also wounded in an artisanal bomb explosion on Friday, Feb. 4.

The three persons were killed on the national highway number 4 “at a time when a group of ADF rebels had just passed in the area”, according to Patrick Musubao, president of the local civil society.

“On Saturday, we recorded six wounded in an explosion of an artisanal bomb at the entrance to the Beni market, not far away from police installations,” Col. Narcisse Muteba Kashale, mayor of Beni revealed, adding that the area where the bomb exploded has been cordoned off by security forces.

“I was about to buy some secondhand clothing when suddenly I heard a loud explosion. I did not understand what was happening. A woman quickly brought me to this hospital,, Justine Masika who was wounded in the hand declared.

Col. Kashale accused the ADF of being responsible for the act declaring that the rebels “are in disarray and right now they are looking for all means to take revenge on the population”.

The ADF has been presented by the jihadist Islamic State as their Central African branch and they have been accused of numerous massacres in eastern DR Congo where they have been based for the past 30 years.

 They have also been accused of carrying out recent jihadist attacks on Ugandan territory.

Since Nov. 30, 2021, the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) and the DR Congo national army, FARDC, have been carrying out joint military operations against the ADF in Congolese territory.

North Kivu and Ituri provinces of DR Congo have been under a state of siege since May 6, 2021, an exceptional measure which has given full powers to the army and police with a view to curbing or totally eradicating rebel activities in the provinces.

The state of siege is yet to succeed in putting an end to the activities of armed groups.