The Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) conducted twin attacks in the Beni territory of North Kivu province this past weekend. The first attacked occurred on Saturday morning when the militants attacked Mamove settlement killing several people, torched houses, and looted food, cattle, and other supplies.
In a second raid on Saturday night, attackers killed five men in Kisima-centre on a major road leading to the Ugandan border. The attack occurred despite the presence of a Congolese-UPDF contingent of troops in the Beni-Kasindi axis.
The number of the killed civilians currently stands at 24 after more bodies were recovered in surrounding areas. This is not surprising seeing as ISCAP has been kidnapping people every time they conduct an attack to use as human shields. Usually, the kidnapped victims are later killed and dumped after the militants have escaped.
There has been an outcry from the citizens of Beni who continuously accuse the UPDF troops of only protecting the road construction equipment being used to repair the Beni-Kasindi road that links to the Ugandan border. The civilians are hoping that the recent announcement of the deployment of an EAC military force will eliminate the rebels and jihadists but not holding their breaths as there have been military interventions in the past including the United Nations and the crisis is yet to come to end.
