Five civilians were killed in a suspected attack by militants linked to the Daesh group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources reported on Wednesday.
The attack occurred on Tuesday evening in Ngite, a village in the Beni territory of North Kivu province, according to Jadot Mwendapole, a local civil society official. “They killed five civilians, all men,” Mwendapole told AFP, stating that firearms and knives were used in the killings. One person remains missing, and property was looted during the attack.
Augustin Kapupa, head of the Mbau administrative area where Ngite is located, confirmed the deaths, attributing them to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The ADF, a Ugandan rebel group with historical ties to extremism, established itself in eastern DRC in 1995 and has since become one of the deadliest militias in the region. It formally pledged allegiance to the Daesh in 2019.
The attack comes despite ongoing efforts to curb the ADF’s activities. In November 2021, the Ugandan army joined forces with the DRC military to launch a joint offensive against the group in its eastern DR Congo strongholds, following several ADF-linked attacks on Ugandan soil. However, the group has remained active, and in December 2023, it was accused of two attacks in western Uganda that resulted in the deaths of 13 villagers.
The latest attack highlights the ongoing violence and instability plaguing eastern DR Congo, where armed groups have terrorized civilian populations for decades. The international community has called for increased efforts to address the root causes of the conflict and protect civilians from harm.
