Suspected militants killed at least 36 people in an overnight attack on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official, the head of a civil society group and a survivor said on Thursday.
The assailants are believed to be rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan armed group based in east Congo that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State and wages frequent village raids, sometimes with machetes and hatchets.
The attack targetted the village of Mukondi, around 30 km (18.64 miles) south of the city of Beni in North Kivu province, an area plagued with rebel activity and that has been under military administration since 2021 in an attempt to restore order.
Provincial governor Carly Nzanzu Kasivita said on Twitter early on Thursday that at least 36 people had been killed in the attack and blamed the ADF.
The head of a local civil society group, Mumbere Limbadu Arsene, gave a provisional death toll of 44, including women, children and the elderly, and said several villagers were still missing.
“The modus operandi suggests it was the ADF because no bullets were fired,” he told Reuters via telephone. A local army spokesperson, Antony Mwalushayi, confirmed the attack had happened in a WhatsApp message but did not give a death toll.
Source: SABC
In other news – Queer Eye Star Tom Jackson has died
Queer Eye is mourning the loss of one of its former “heroes. Tom Jackson died “after losing his battle with metastatic adenocarcinoma” on Friday at 11:49 p.m., his obituary stated. He was 63.
According to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, metastatic adenocarcinoma happens when adenocarcinoma cancer cells begin in one area and spread to other parts of the body. It’s also known as stage 4 adenocarcinoma. Learn more
