Islamic State-linked rebels have killed at least 36 people over two days in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, sources said Thursday.
ADF fighters killed at least 21 people since Tuesday in villages along Ituri and North Kivu border, and 15 in Biakato town.
Allied Democratic Forces, a former Ugandan rebel group, has pledged allegiance to Islamic State and operates across eastern Congo’s forested regions.
ADF operates in North Kivu and Ituri near borders with Uganda and Rwanda in mineral-rich and conflict-torn eastern region.
In a report published Tuesday, Amnesty International accused the ADF of war crimes and crimes against humanity in eastern Congo.
Overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, ADF fighters attacked four isolated villages near Beni Mau in North Kivu according to security officials.
Security sources said at least 21 people were killed while a local official reported up to 24 dead and others missing.
On Thursday in Biakato, fighters attacked civilians at home using bullets and machetes leaving at least 15 people dead.
Mendela Musa, a local civil society leader, said 15 bodies were recovered including women, men, and a child.
Both attacks occurred in dense forest zones where the ADF has repeatedly committed abuses amid military offensives against them.
The mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has endured decades of conflict involving armed groups, militias, and government forces.
Since 2021, Ugandan forces have been deployed in North Kivu and Ituri alongside Congolese troops to fight the ADF.
Amnesty also reported kidnappings, forced labour, child recruitment, and sexual violence including forced marriage and forced pregnancy.
Agnes Callamard said these systematic abuses constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity that the world must not ignore.
