Suspected ADF militants kill at least 17 in eastern DR Congo province

Suspected militants of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed at least 17 people and injured four others in eastern DR Congo's North Kivu province on Sunday (March 12). The attack took place in the early hours of Sunday at Kirindera village in North Kivu's Beni territory. Speaking to the news agency AFP, Kirindera's chief Katembo Kahongya said the militants also set fire to the buildings.

"They used bladed weapons and fire to execute the population," Kahongya said. Meanwhile, a resident Mukondano Kambale told the news agency that the militants killed people in a hotel and a health clinic before being chased away. "It's fear and desolation in the centre of Kirindera," Kambale added.

This attack in eastern DR Congo comes just days after ADF militants killed more than 40 people in twin attacks in neighbouring North Kivu villages on Wednesday. According to an army spokesperson, the attacks were carried out in retaliation for the army detaining more than 22 ADF collaborators and closing down pharmacies allegedly supplying the group with chemicals to make bombs.

A day later, a delegation from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the country assessed the security and humanitarian situation in North Kivu.

The ADF, which the Islamic State claims as its central African affiliate, is one of the main militant groups behind the bloodshed in eastern Congo, where around 10,000 people have been killed since 2017, as per the Kivu Security Tracker.

Since 2021, a joint operation launched by the militaries of Congo and Uganda has been targeting militia in eastern DR Congo, but attacks have nonetheless continued.

Last week, the United States offered a reward of up to $5 million for information concerning ADF leader Seka Musa Baluku. Two years back, Washington designated Baluku as a global terrorist and his group as a foreign terrorist organisation, blocking assets and property interests.

(With inputs from agencies)

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