As we learned from local sources on Wednesday, five civilians were killed in an attack attributed to ADF rebels linked to the Islamic State group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday evening.
The rebels carried out an ambush in the town of Ngite in North Kivu province's Beni territory at around 8pm (6pm GMT), Jadot Mwendapole, civil society rapporteur for the sector, told AFP.
“They killed five civilians, all men, some with firearms, others with knives,” he added, specifying that another person was missing and that property had been looted.
“The ADF enemy killed five civilians,” confirmed Augustin Kapupa, head of the “group” (administrative unit) of Mbau, where Ngite is located.
The ADF (Allied Democratic Forces), originally mainly Muslim Ugandan rebels, have established themselves in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo since the mid-1990s and have killed thousands of civilians there. In 2019, they swore allegiance to IS, which portrays them as its “Central African Province.”
In late 2021, Kampala and Kinshasa launched a joint military operation against them called “Shujaa” following attacks attributed to them on Ugandan soil, but the ADF continued its attacks.
In December they were accused of carrying out two attacks in western Uganda that killed 13 villagers.