At least nineteen people were killed by armed militants in the restive eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo during the weekend. The nineteen were killed in a series of attacks during which time the group was able to terrorize residents.
Nine were kidnapped and their bodies found after a few days by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) a terror organization that is part of the Islamic State’s Central African Province (ISCAP). The attack occurred in the North Kivu region which is considered the de facto headquarters of the terror organization in DRC.
In another attack, another group of ISCAP terrorists attacked the village of Bukaka in Ituri region killing at least ten people. The attacks targeted people indiscriminately with the victim comprising of women, men, and children. Preliminary intelligence indicates that the victims were either hacked to death with machetes or shot with firearms as is the recognized mode of operation of ISCAP not only in DRC but also in Mozambique where the group has a huge presence.
In another incident on Saturday in Fizi, in South Kivu province, gunmen from a “coalition of armed groups” attacked an army unit, killing two soldiers. The eastern part of DRC is the theatre for a lot of militant activities with various agendas that fuelled either by ethnicities, socioeconomic grievances, or religious ideologies like the ADF.
Since the incorporation of the ADF into ISCAP and at least 500 people have been killed with militants citing retaliation for an army crackdown on their bases in the forests around the Beni region.
