Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels, armed with machetes and guns, have carried out a brutal attack on a funeral in eastern Congo, resulting in the deaths of at least 61 civilians, as per officials’ reports on Tuesday. This incident marks one of the deadliest assaults by the Islamic State-linked group, also known as Islamic State – Central Africa Province (ISCAP), in recent memory.
The militants, claiming responsibility for the attack that took place on Monday, stated that they had targeted nearly 100 Christians, as reported by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant activities. Additionally, a report from SITE mentioned that around 30 houses were set ablaze during the assault on the funeral ceremony held in Ntoyo village in the North Kivu region of Congo.
Macaire Sivikunula, a local administrator, confirmed that the count of bodies had reached 61 so far, revealing that the victims were ambushed during a mourning event in Ntoyo village at approximately 9 p.m., with most of them falling victim to machete attacks.
In a separate incident, authorities informed Reuters later on Tuesday that 18 individuals lost their lives in another suspected ADF attack on a different village. The ADF, originally a rebel group in Uganda, has operated from the forests of Congo since the late 1990s and is acknowledged by the Islamic State as an affiliate.
Recent spates of assaults attributed to the ADF have heightened insecurity in eastern Congo, a region abundant in minerals, where M23 rebels, backed by Rwanda, made significant territorial gains this year, prompting intervention efforts from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to mediate peace talks.
In the previous month, the ADF was responsible for the deaths of over 50 civilians in multiple attacks, while an ADF assault on a church in July resulted in 38 fatalities. Col. Alain Kiwewa, the military administrator for Lubero, warned that the death toll from Monday’s attack could increase as some individuals remain unaccounted for.
The assailants, in addition to using machetes, also resorted to shooting victims and setting vehicles on fire, as reported by Samuel Kagheni, a local civil society leader. Congolese soldiers arrived at the scene on Tuesday morning, according to resident Alain Kahindo Kinama, leading to an exodus of people trying to flee the area.
Lieutenant Marc Elongo, a spokesperson for the Congolese army, mentioned that ADF militants had already carried out the massacre by the time the soldiers intervened. Both the Congolese army and its ally Uganda have ramped up operations against the ADF in recent weeks to combat the escalating violence in the region.
