On Wednesday night, a new attack occurred in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, claiming the lives of over 40 individuals, as reported by local authorities. The attack was attributed to the ADF rebels, who are known to have affiliations with the Islamic State group.
The head of the local grouping, Kalunga Meso, confirmed that the provisional death toll from the attack was 38 individuals in Mukondi and eight in Mausa, which are two neighboring villages situated in the territory of Beni, located in the province of North Kivu. Arsène Mumbere, the president of the local civil society, also confirmed the same death toll, stating that the attackers entered the village of Mukondi quietly and used knives to kill most of their victims.
The ADF rebels, who have a Muslim majority, are originally from Uganda and have been active in the eastern DRC since the mid-1990s, where they have been accused of massacring thousands of civilians. In 2021, the group was also held responsible for attacks on Ugandan soil, leading to a joint military operation by the Congolese and Ugandan armies to track them down in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
In a bid to bring the perpetrators to justice, the United States recently announced a reward of up to $5 million for information that leads to the capture of the group’s leader, a Ugandan national in his 40s named Musa Baluku.