UN deplores more than 30 dead in new ADF attacks

Published on : 04/07/2023 – 04:06

New killings attributed to the ADF, rebels affiliated with the Islamic State group, left more than 30 dead on April 2 and 3 in Ituri, in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), deplored the UN on Thursday April 6.

In his last quarterly report, published on March 27, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, had estimated at 485 the number of civilians killed between December 1 and March 14 in this province plagued by violence from several armed groups, including the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces). He was then alarmed by a “precipitous rise” in violence in the eastern provinces of the DR Congo.

In a press release released Thursday evening, the UN mission in DR Congo (Monusco) said it had received information on April 6 reporting killings attributed to the ADF “which occurred on April 2 and 3 on the border between the territory of Mambasa and that of Irumu”.

The head of Monusco, Bintou Keita, “condemns in the strongest terms” these new massacres and “deplores these despicable attacks against the civilian population”, indicates the press release. “It urges the Congolese authorities to conduct an investigation and bring the perpetrators of these summary executions to justice.” Bintou Keita calls “for an immediate cessation of violence by all armed groups against civilians” and “reiterates the Secretary General’s call on foreign armed groups to lay down their arms unconditionally and return to their country of origin”.

The ADF are originally predominantly Muslim Ugandan rebels who have been rooting since the mid-1990s in eastern DR Congo, where they are accused of massacring thousands of civilians. They pledged allegiance in 2019 to the Islamic State group, which presents them as its branch in central Africa.

With AFP