Dozens killed in suspected Islamist rebel attack in Democratic Republic of Congo – DW

At least 42 people were killed in an attack in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Islamist rebels are believed to be the perpetrators.

The attack on the village of Mayikengo in the Lubero region of the eastern province of North Kivu took place on Wednesday.

Last week, more than 80 people were killed in suspected attacks by Islamist rebels on villages in the east.

What do we know about the latest attack?

Lubero administrator Alain Kiwewa Mitela told Reuters and AFP that the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) were responsible for the attack. The rebel group, an offshoot of the Islamic State, began as an insurgency in Uganda. It has operated from eastern Congo for almost three decades.

The initial death toll was 25, but it appeared to continue to rise throughout Thursday.

A local official told Reuters that the attackers called on residents to gather at a market for a demonstration and then attacked the assembled crowd with firearms and machetes.

Seba Paluku, a civil society representative, told the French news agency AFP that among the bodies recovered were some that had been “bound” and “beheaded.”

He said he went to the scene with soldiers. “The bodies are lying motionless on the ground. There is no way to remove them because vehicles cannot get there.”

The latest attack brings the death toll from ADF attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo this month to nearly 150, AFP reported.

In addition, the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo are also fighting against the Rwandan-linked M23 rebels, who also operate mainly in the east of the country.