Rebels affiliated with the Islamic State group killed at least 43 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said Thursday.
Fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed civilians Wednesday evening in the village of Bafwakoa. This Ugandan Islamist group operates on both sides of the porous border. "They burned houses in the village ," said Samuel Banapia, a member of local civil society, by telephone.
The Congolese army said in a statement that 43 people had been killed, while local authorities reported at least 56 dead, several missing and at least two people taken hostage.
The Congolese army is struggling to contain the ADF while fighting several other rebel groups in the east of the country. The most significant of these is the Rwandan -backed M23 , which seized control of major eastern cities last year.
"The ADF avoids any direct confrontation with the army and all of its partners. That is why it is attacking the population in a way that undermines peace efforts and constitutes acts of revenge against the population, and therefore reprisals against our people," said Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, spokesman for the Congolese army in the east of the country, by telephone.
The exact number of ADF fighters in the DRC is unknown, but their presence in the region is significant, and they regularly attack civilians. The group emerged in Uganda in the late 1990s and affiliated itself with the Islamic State in 2019. Muslims make up about 10% of the Congolese population, with most living in the eastern part of the country.
In recent years, ADF attacks have intensified near the border with Uganda and spread to Goma, the main city in eastern DRC, as well as to the neighboring province of Ituri. Last year, the ADF killed 66 people and abducted several others in a nearby area.
