Local sources reported on Tuesday that a violent attack in eastern DR Congo, attributed to militants with connections to the Islamic State group, has resulted in the tragic deaths of at least 20 civilians.
The assault occurred on the evening of Monday, just beyond the periphery of Oicha, a town situated within Beni territory in North Kivu province.
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), affiliated with the Islamic State, have faced allegations of massacring thousands of civilians in the strife-ridden eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“So far we have 20 bodies… tension is high, the ADF have once again plunged Oicha into mourning,” mayor Nicolas Kikuku told media by phone on Tuesday.
“We have just placed 26 bodies in the morgue of Oicha’s general hospital,” said Darius Syaira, Beni territory’s civil society representative.
He indicated that among the victims, there were 12 minors and 14 adults, with the majority of them having been fatally attacked with knives.
Syaira also mentioned that tensions in Oicha were running high, with protesters setting humanitarian vehicles, which were in the process of preparing to distribute food, on fire.
“We don’t need humanitarian aid, but we do want security,” one of the demonstrators said when asked why residents had attacked the trucks.
Initially composed primarily of Muslim Ugandan insurgents, the ADF established a presence in eastern DR Congo during the 1990s.
Since 2019, certain assaults by the ADF in eastern DR Congo have been attributed to the Islamic State group, which designates these fighters as the Islamic State Central Africa Province.
Police attributed the killing of a newlywed couple and their safari guide in one of Uganda’s renowned national parks on October 17 to the ADF. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the assault.
In 2021, Uganda and the DRC initiated a collaborative military operation against the ADF with the aim of dislodging the militants from their strongholds in the DRC. However, attacks have persisted despite these efforts.
