Islamist militants are suspected to have killed at least 22 people with knives and machetes in an overnight raid on villages near the town of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan militia, is suspected to be behind the killings. Several more villagers are understood to have been kidnapped, according to a local official.
The killings come a little more than three weeks after the DRC imposed martial law in the conflict-stricken provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, which border Uganda. The government said the law aimed to “swiftly end the insecurity which is killing our fellow citizens on a daily basis”, and would be in place for an initial period of 30 days.
A four-month-old baby, who was found alive on the back of one of the victims, was among those orphaned in the killings that tore through a number of villages about 25 miles east of Beni.
Holding the orphaned baby, the dead woman’s sister Kavira Mwisha told Reuters: “They gave the baby to me to feed because she was crying. I call on the government to end this war.”
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The head of Bulongo commune, Jean-Paul Katembo, said 22 villagers had been confirmed dead and several more were thought to have been abducted. He said he believed the ADF, which has been active in eastern Congo since the 1990s, were behind the killings.
The village’s streets were filled with puddles of blood. Personal items, including shoes and keys, were strewn along the dirt streets.
More than 1,200 civilians have been killed in Beni territory since November 2019, according to the Kivu Security Tracker, when the DRC army began conducting counter-insurgency operations, killing hundreds of its fighters.
The militia had split earlier that year after an Islamic State propaganda showed leader Musa Baluku pledging allegiance to the militant group.
The Ugandan government classifies the ADF as terrorist organisation.
Additional reporting by Reuters
