ADF rebels kill 52

United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) has reported that Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels killed at least 52 civilians between August 9 and 16 in North Kivu Province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Bintou Keita, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the DRC and Head of MONUSCO, said the victims include eight women, two children, and one girl, with the death toll expected to rise. Keita noted that the recent violence also involved kidnappings, looting, and the burning of houses, vehicles, and other property belonging to a population already in a precarious humanitarian situation. The latest attacks follow a massacre in late July in which 43 civilians were killed by ADF rebels in Komanda, Ituri Province. “These atrocities are intolerable and constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights,” Keita said. She urged Congolese authorities to launch investigations, identify those responsible, and bring them to justice. Keita also reiterated the UN Secretary-General’s call for all foreign armed groups to disarm and return to their countries of origin. The ADF, an armed group with links to the Islamic State, has operated in the Uganda-DRC borderlands for decades. After being forced out of Uganda in 2002, the group relocated its operations to eastern Congo, where it has since been blamed for the deaths of thousands of civilians. Despite the ongoing joint military operation Shujaa by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC), the ADF continues to launch deadly surprise attacks on civilian populations.