20 killed in DR Congo village after IS-linked rebel attack
Congolese Army Soldiers and UN troops inspect an ambush site where ADF rebels attacked two vehicles on the road between Beni and the Ugandan border town of Kasindi, on April 9, 2021 in Kilya, DR Congo. (Brent Stirton/Getty Images)
Islamic State-linked rebels killed at least 20 people in an attack on a village in eastern Congo, according to the Associated Press on February 9th.
The assault was carried out early on February 7th by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the village of Mambimbi-Isigo, in the Lubero territory of North Kivu province, military administrator Col. Alain Kiwewa Mitela said.
Speaking from Kinshasa, Mitela said the attack triggered mass displacement as residents fled in fear, further worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in eastern Congo, a region long scarred by armed violence. Local civil society activists said the fighters initially raided farmers’ fields before turning on civilians inside the village. The assaulters used knives and firearms, spreading panic and forcing families to flee to neighbouring areas.
“This toll is still provisional because many civilians are missing,” said Kinos Kitwa, head of civil society in Bapere. He criticised the limited presence of Congolese army troops in the area, saying it left communities exposed to attacks by armed groups.
Eastern Congo has been plagued by violence from dozens of militias for years, including the ADF and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The ADF pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2019 and operates mainly along the Congo-Uganda border, where it frequently targets civilians. At least 62 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the year in the Beni and Lubero territories in attacks attributed to the ADF, according to the North Kivu Provincial Civil Society Coordination.
The latest attack comes as international attention returns to the region. On February 9th, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix began a two-day official visit to eastern Congo, including the city of Beni, one of the areas most affected by ADF violence.
The ADF emerged in the late 1990s from various Ugandan groups opposed to President Yoweri Museveni. After Ugandan military operations in 2002, the group relocated to Congo and has since been blamed for the deaths of thousands of civilians. In July 2025, the group carried out a series of attacks that killed more than 100 people.
Associated Press, Maghrebi.org
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