ADF Rebels Kill 9 Civilians, Burn 12 Houses In Eastern DR Congo
The ADF, a rebel group that originated from Uganda, continues to wreak havoc in DR Congo.
Nine civilians were killed Friday, July 16, 2021 in separate attacks on two provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo by rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
According to Kakule Kalunge, the chief of Kalunguta in the Beni territory of North Kivu “the rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) shot dead five persons; four men and one woman, and burnt down 12 houses.”
“Among those killed was the president of the network of civil society organisations, whose death has forced the inhabitants to abandon the area,” Kakule said.
Members of the Mai-mai militia group who have constituted themselves into a community-based auto-defense group and who had been camped in Kalunguta awaiting demobilisation spontaneously rose up to the challenge and chased the ADF assailants into the jungle.
“I call on the population of Kalunguta to allow the army and the intelligence services to do their work of securing this town,” Colonel Charles Ehuta Omeanga, administrator of the territory told the locals.
Kalunguta is situated 27 kilometres from Beni in the territory bearing the same name.
“In the same night, within the Irumu territory in the neighbouring province of Ituri, a deadly attack caused the death of four of our compatriots. The assailants have not yet been identified,” revealed Lt. Jules Ngongo, the army spokesperson in Ituri.
The ADF is the most murderous of the hundreds of armed groups active in the Eastern DR Congo where it has been accused of killing over 6,000 civilians since 2013, according to figures supplied by the Congolese Episcopal Conference.
ADF is a Ugandan rebel group that has been wreaking havoc in the DR Congo for the past 30 years.
Since 2019, certain attacks attributed to the ADF have been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist organisation. The Islamic State has designated the ADF as being part of its “Central African Province” called ISCAP.
In March this year, the United States of America placed the ADF on its list of terrorist organisations affiliated to the Islamic State.
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