“Utter Carnage”: Terrorists slaughter 60 civilians in Eastern Congo
SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB A man injured while attending a rally which was addressed by Congolese rebel leader and coordinator of the AFC-M23 movement, is evacuated from the scene of an explosion in Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo February 27, 2025. REUTERS/Crispin Kyalangalilwa BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE.
As violence escalates in eastern Congo, residents are facing yet another wave of deadly attacks, this time from the Allied Democratic Force (ADF), an Islamist militant group linked to the Islamic State.
“The ADF attack caused around 60 deaths, but the final toll will be given later this evening because the territory has just deployed services to the area to count the number of beheaded people,” Col. Alain Kiwewa, local administrator of the Lubero territory where Ntoyo is located, told the Associated Press on September 9.
The group attacked the village of Ntoyo as people had gathered for a burial. “There were about 10 of them. I saw machetes. They told people to gather in one place and started cutting them. I listened to people screaming and I fainted,” a survivor who was present at the burial told the AP, requesting anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
The ADF emerged in Uganda in the 1990s, accusing the government there of persecuting Muslims. It is now based across the border in DR Congo and carries out attacks in both countries. In 2019, it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and has carried out repeated attacks on civilians across the Congo-Uganda border region. In July alone, the group attacked Ituri province twice, killing at least 34 in the cities of Komanda and 66 in Irumu.
Despite joint operations by Congolese and Ugandan forces, the group continues to exploit gaps in security, preying on communities that are already vulnerable.
A local broadcaster, Radio Mishapi Voice, quoted witnesses as saying there was “utter carnage” in the village, and some people were also burnt in their homes.
The attacks worsen an already dire situation in eastern Congo, where the government is engaged on multiple fronts against armed groups, including the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. Troops are stretched across the region, leaving border villages exposed.
At a U.N. Human Rights Council session in Geneva on Tuesday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the ADF had “taken advantage of the security vacuum.”
AP/ Maghrebi
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