Islamist insurgents have allegedly killed about nine civilians in a series of attacks on Thursday and Friday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the army and local authorities reports.
The rebels were said to have used machetes and guns to kill their victims who were working in fields in a rural area lying on both sides of conflict-torn Ituri and North Kivu provinces, according to a local traditional chief Fataki Sabuni.
Two women were among those reported to have died, Sabuni added.
The army had blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for the killings. The ADF are a group originating from Uganda, but are now based in eastern Congo, which has pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State militant group.
The military administrator of North Kivu’s Beni territory, Colonel Charles Ehuta Omeanga, had told Reuters that the assailants were roaming the area and killing anyone they meet along the way, but soldiers were in hot pursuit to bring them to book.
Several years of conflict between the army and scores of rebel groups has destabilised eastern Congo and stimulated a long-running humanitarian crisis.
Attacks escalated last year and the number of people unsettled stood at nearly 5.7 million towards the end of 2023, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA.
