11 killed in east DR Congo attack

Bunia, DR Congo: Militants have killed at least 11 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said on Saturday, in the latest attack to hit the turbulent region.

The attack occurred on Friday in the village of Mutuey, and the surrounding area, in Ituri province’s Irumu territory, according to village chief Adidas Mupitapilipo.

Militants from the Islamist-aligned Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed 13 people, he said, adding that only 11 bodies could be recovered.

AFP was unable to independently confirm the details of the attack.

A security official in the area, who asked not to be named, also said that ADF fighters had killed 11 people in Mutuey.

A local Red Cross official likewise said the ADF had killed 11 people.

The Islamic State group claims the ADF as its central African affiliate. It is one of the deadliest militias in eastern Congo, accused of slaughtering thousands of civilians.

Congolese army spokesman for military operations in Ituri, Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, confirmed that an ADF attack had occurred in the area but said he had no information about the number of people killed.

Armed groups have plagued mineral-rich eastern DRC for three decades, a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.

Source » manilatimes