Six people were killed in a militant attack in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The attack occurred near Beni town and is being blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the first from the group this year.
Violence has spiked since the end of October when the DR Congo army began an offensive against the ADF and the militia responded with a series of massacres against civilians. The United Nations said since October 30 suspected ADF fighters killed more than 260 people, mostly women, and children, in brutal attacks carried out mainly at night.
The Congolese army has maintained that the group which is part of the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) is in disarray seeing as five of its commanders had been killed. However, intelligence further indicates that the covert nature of the ADF has allowed them to thrive as long as they have seeing as very little is know about their mode of operation, and numbers are unknown.
These killings come as the ADF massacres have sparked angry protests around Beni where residents say the troops from the U.N. Stabilization Mission force have failed to protect them.
