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23-11-2025
KINSHASA: Islamic State-linked rebels have killed 89 civilians in multiple attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lubero territory, the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African country, known as MONUSCO, said on Friday.
The attacks were carried out by fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in several localities of North Kivu province between November 13 and November 19, and the 89 killed included at least 20 women and an undetermined number of children, MONUSCO said in a statement.
In one of the attacks, it said, the rebels attacked a health center operated by the Catholic Church in Byambwe, killing at least 17 people including women who had gone there to receive maternity care and setting alight four wards housing patients.
Other violations committed by the rebels included abductions and the looting of medical supplies, it said.
“MONUSCO urges the Congolese authorities to promptly initiate independent and credible investigations to identify the perpetrators and accomplices of these massacres and bring them to justice,” the statement said.
Local officials told media last month that suspected ADF rebels had killed 19 civilians in an overnight attack in the village of Mukondo in North Kivu province.
In September, the ADF claimed responsibility for one of its deadliest attacks in recent months that claimed the lives of more than 60 civilians at a funeral in eastern Congo.
The ADF started as a rebel force in Uganda but has been based in the forests of neighboring Congo since the late 1990s, and is recognized by Islamic State as an affiliate.
Congo’s army and Ugandan forces have pursued operations against the ADF, but the group’s attacks continue.
Other parts of North Kivu province are under the control of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who staged a lightning advance this year.
Mediators including the United States and Qatar are trying to broker peace in that conflict, which Washington hopes will facilitate Western investments in the mining sector.
Last month, suspected Islamic State-backed rebels killed 19 civilians in an overnight attack in eastern Congo, two local officials said, deepening insecurity in the mineral-rich region.
The attack, believed to have been carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces group, occurred in the village of Mukondo in North Kivu province, Alain Kiwewa, the military administrator for Lubero territory where Mukondo is located, told media, adding that the death toll could rise.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility by the ADF, which is also known as Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) and has claimed responsibility for a spate of attacks in recent months, including one in September on a funeral that killed more than 60 civilians. Media could not immediately reach ADF for comment.
The assailants in Mukondo wore uniforms resembling those of the Congolese army, which allowed them to enter the village without arousing suspicion. They then attacked people using guns, knives and clubs, said a local pastor who declined to give his name for security reasons.
A civil society leader based in the area, Espoir Kambale, also put the number of dead at 19 and said eight other people were wounded and 26 houses burned.
“We are asking ourselves how the rebels could come and attack us when we believed the village was well secured,” said Kambale. “The population is in a state of panic. Some residents fled into the bush and have not returned.” (Int’l News Desk)
