Deadly Attack in Eastern Congo: Hospital Turns into Tragedy

An Islamic State-backed rebel group, the Allied Democratic Forces, killed at least 17 people in an attack on a hospital in eastern Congo. This tragic assault occurred in Byambwe, North Kivu. The rebels, who've been active since the late 1990s, also attacked nearby villages.

An Islamic State-backed rebel group carried out a brutal attack on a hospital in eastern Congo, resulting in the deaths of at least 17 individuals, authorities reported on Saturday. The incursion, executed by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), unfolded in the village of Byambwe within the Lubero territory of North Kivu province. Colonel Alain Kiwewa, the local administrator, relayed the devastating news to The Associated Press, detailing how women, including breastfeeding mothers, were savagely murdered, many found with their throats slit in hospital beds.

Beyond the hospital, the rebels targeted other villages, although the number of casualties remains unconfirmed, stated Samuel Kakule Kagheni, a local civil society leader. Tragically, this is not an isolated incident; eastern Congo has faced numerous deadly assaults by armed factions, including the ADF, which allied itself with the Islamic State in 2009, and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.

Historically, the ADF emerged from Uganda in the late 1990s amid dissatisfaction with President Yoweri Museveni's leadership, relocating to Congo in 2002 after military strikes. Responsible for thousands of civilian deaths, the ADF has continued its violent operations, notably killing at least 52 people in a series of August raids and nearly 40 in a July attack on a Catholic church in Ituri province.

(With inputs from agencies.)