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Nearly 200 people have been killed and 40,000 displaced since January following a wave of attacks by ADF militia in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN said on Friday, as the protests against the massacres had paralyzed three towns.
The United Nations refugee agency has reported an “alarming increase” in attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – a historically Ugandan Islamist group that has been present in eastern Congo since 1995.
Since the beginning of the year, attacks blamed on the ADF “have killed nearly 200 people, injured dozens more and displaced around 40,000 people in the Beni territory of the DRC in the province of North Kivu as well as in neighboring villages in Ituri province, ”UNHCR spokesperson. Said Babar Baloch.
“In less than three months, the ADF reportedly attacked 25 villages, burned dozens of houses and kidnapped more than 70 people,” he told reporters in Geneva.
The ADF has a reputation for being the bloodiest of the 122 militias raging in eastern DRC. He killed around 465 people in 2020.
The troubled eastern provinces of DR Congo. By Gillian HANDYSIDE (AFP) According to Kivu Security Tracker, an NGO that monitors violence in troubled eastern DRC, the group has killed more than 1,200 civilians in the Beni region alone since 2017.
The killings have become more frequent since the military launched an offensive in October 2019, forcing the ADF to split into smaller, highly mobile units, experts say.
The latest massacres sparked protests in eastern DR Congo where the towns of Beni, Oicha and Butembo in North Kivu province were virtually paralyzed in response to an appeal by an organization called Veranda Mutchanga.
In Oicha, at least one protester died of gunshot wounds after police attempted to remove a protest barricade, the local mayor said. In Beni and Butembo, stores have been closed and much of normal activity has ceased.
Lack of funding
Baloch said the latest wave of attacks appeared to be due to reprisals from armed groups, their search for food and medicine, and accusations against communities of sharing information on ADF positions.
People forcibly displaced last month had fled to the towns of Oicha, Beni and Butembo.
“The majority are women and children, as the men stay to protect the properties, exposing themselves to the risk of further attacks,” Baloch said.
The displaced people, he said, were now living in dire conditions, without shelter, food, water or health care.
Families are also lacking essential items such as blankets and kitchen supplies – a major concern in the context of Ebola and Covid-19.
Even before the recent massive displacement, some 100,000 internally displaced people were already in need of shelter and protection in Beni, according to UNHCR figures.
But funding shortages were seriously limiting the agency’s ability to provide shelter and other aid, Baloch warned.
Last year UNHCR was able to build more than 43,000 family shelters in eastern DRC, but this year it has so far the funding to build only a tenth.
“Only 4,400 families can be helped out of hundreds of thousands of people in need,” Baloch said, adding that a vital cash assistance program for displaced women at risk had also been cut short for lack of funds.
The United Nations refugee agency urgently needs $ 2 million (1.7 million euros) to strengthen its response in Beni and in Irumu territory in Ituri, he said.
Currently, the $ 33 million the agency has requested to provide assistance throughout eastern DRC in 2021 is only 5.5% funded.
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