Rebel fighters have massacred at least 52 civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations peacekeeping mission confirmed on Monday.
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) carried out coordinated assaults between August 9 and 16, targeting villages in North Kivu province with brutal precision.
UN officials warned the death toll could rise, describing violence marked by kidnappings, looting, arson, and the destruction of homes, vehicles, and fragile livelihoods.
The ADF, rooted in former Ugandan insurgencies, has sown terror for decades, leaving thousands dead despite regional military interventions and Ugandan troop deployments.
Nine civilians were slain in the town of Oicha overnight on Sunday, security and local sources told AFP, deepening community despair.
Earlier in the week, ADF militants slaughtered at least 40 people in several villages across the Bapere sector, local leaders reported.
Samuel Kagheni Kakule, president of Bapere’s civil society, said entire households were burned, and residents were abducted during the latest wave of attacks.
Despite the joint Ugandan-Congolese military campaign launched in 2021, known as “Operation Shujaa,” the armed group’s relentless terror continues to shatter lives.
MONUSCO stressed that already vulnerable populations face renewed displacement, hunger, and insecurity as waves of violence engulf North Kivu’s traumatised communities.
In villages still smouldering from the attacks, the silence of grief hangs heavy, and hope remains fragile against the shadows of fear.
