ISIL-affiliated rebel fighters blamed after 38 killed in DR Congo attack
Al Jazeera
The armed men used guns and machetes to attack residents of villages in Beni territory, in North Kivu province.
Rebel fighters affiliated with ISIL (ISIS) have killed at least 38 people in an overnight attack on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials and a civil society leader in the region have said.
The armed men used guns and machetes to attack residents of villages in Beni territory, in North Kivu province, overnight on Friday, local official Fabien Kakule said.
District official Leon Kakule Siviwe said that the recent surge in violence was due to the attackers taking advantage of a small security presence.
Local civil society leader Justin Kavalami blamed members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for the attack.
The ADF, which is also accused of being behind another village assault that killed at least 16 people earlier this week, was originally based in neighbouring Uganda. After spreading to the eastern DRC, it pledged allegiance to ISIL in 2018 and has mounted frequent attacks, further destabilising a region where many armed groups are active.
