Brutal massacre in Congo: 50 dead after attacks by an armed group on two villages

The United Nations “strongly” condemned the killing of more than 50 people in the attacks carried out on Monday by suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group on two towns in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The UN humanitarian coordinator in the African country, David McLachlan-Karr, said in a statement that Among those killed in the attacks on the villages of Boga and Tchabi were 30 civilians who were in the Rubingo IDP camp.

He also pointed out that During the attacks, houses were set on fire and an unknown number of civilians were abducted., amid an increase in attacks in the region, which led to the DRC President Félix Tshisekedi declared a state of siege in Ituri and North Kivu about two weeks ago.

“These attacks are unacceptable. Parties to conflict must protect civilian populations and these crimes must not go unpunished, ”said McLachlan-Karr, who added that“ communities, already very vulnerable, must be able to live in peace wherever they are and to return home. at home in complete safety ”. .

McLachlan-Karr also condemned attacks on convoys and humanitarian facilities, events which led Saturday the non-governmental organization Action Against Hunger to suspend its activities in the territory of Djugu, also located in the province of Ituri.

“Humanitarian actors are mandated to help people in need, regardless of their ethnic or religious origin. Any attack on humanitarian workers and their facilities is a violation of international law and delays the delivery of aid to those who need it to survive. “, he concludes.

Ituri province, scene of a peak of attacks by armed groups and inter-community tensions, currently hosts around 1.6 million internally displaced people, according to data processed by the United Nations.

For her part, the head of the UN Mission for Stabilization in the DRC (MONUSCO), Bintou Keita, condemned the attacks and stressed that “MONUSCO troops are there”, according to the mission in a brief message in your account on the social network Twitter.

The New Congolese Civil Society (NSCC) said over the weekend that at least 65 people have been killed since May 1 in eastern DRC by ADF members, not counting the latest massacre, as reported by the Congolese news portal 7sur7.

The militia of the ADF, who is believed to have links with the jihadist group Islamic State, has been operating in the DRC since the 1990s And, despite the repeated offensives launched against it, it continues to generate violence in the region.

So it’s considered to be one of the most dangerous armed groups operating in the African country. The United Nations Joint Humanitarian Office in the DRC (UNJHRO) said in February that around 850 civilians were killed in 2020 at the hands of this militia in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.

(with EP information)

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