Brutal ADF Attack Claims 16 Lives in Eastern Congo

In Eastern Congo's North Kivu province, at least 16 people were killed by the suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group linked to Islamic State. The victims were murdered with machetes in their homes or fields. The attack coincides with military withdrawal from the area.

(Adds quotes) BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 5 (Reuters) - A t least 16 people were killed by a suspected Islamist rebel group based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, an official from the local administration said on Wednesday.

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), allied to Islamic State, started as a Ugandan insurgency but has operated from the jungles of eastern Congo for almost three decades. "We believe that the ADF are the perpetrators of this attack, they took advantage of the departure of the military in the area to come and kill the population," local official Fabien Kakule Viriro told Reuters.

The victims were hacked to death with machetes while they were in their homes or in the fields, the official said, adding that some were executed while they were trying to escape.