Deadly Attack in Eastern DR Congo Attributed to Islamic State-Affiliated Rebels Leaves 20 Dead

Approximately 20 people have been killed in an attack in eastern DR Congo, which has been attributed to rebels associated with the Islamic State jihadist group. The incident occurred on Friday near the village of Enebula, with local sources blaming the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for ambushing farmers in the area. Patrick Mukohe, a civil society leader, stated that he counted 21 bodies of men and women at the site of the attack, while Jules Kambale, an Oicha hospital morgue worker, confirmed that 19 bodies had been received. The attack took place 30 kilometers west of the town of Oicha, in North Kivu province. The ADF originally began as insurgents in Uganda before gaining a foothold in eastern DR Congo in the 1990s. They have been accused of killing thousands of civilians in the region and are the deadliest of scores of outlawed forces in the area. Since 2019, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for some ADF attacks in eastern DRC, describing the group as its local offshoot, the Islamic State Central Africa Province. A video shared on social media, authenticated by Mukohe, showed a crowd encircling the body of a man tied to a wooden frame, his throat slit. When the bodies of the victims reached the Oicha morgue, some young people tried to block the nearest national road in protest. However, they were swiftly diffused by the police, who fired bullets in the process, as stated by one civil society source. On Thursday, the UN mission in DR Congo said that more than 30 people had been killed by the ADF in neighboring Ituri province earlier in the week. Last month, the US offered a reward of up to $5 million for information on the ADF leader, Seka Musa Baluku.

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