Islamic State-affiliated rebels have carried out a series of attacks in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lubero territory, resulting in the tragic deaths of 89 civilians, as reported by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country, MONUSCO. The attacks, attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), took place between November 13 and November 19 in various locations within North Kivu province. Among those killed were 20 women and an unspecified number of children. One of the brutal incidents involved the assault on a health center managed by the Catholic Church in Byambwe, where at least 17 individuals lost their lives, including pregnant women seeking maternity care. The rebels also set fire to four patient wards and engaged in other atrocities such as abductions and the plundering of medical resources.
MONUSCO has called upon Congolese authorities to promptly launch thorough and credible investigations to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators and accomplices responsible for these heinous massacres. Local officials previously disclosed that suspected ADF militants had killed 19 civilians in an overnight raid in the village of Mukondo in North Kivu. The ADF, which originally emerged as a rebel group in Uganda, has operated in the forests of Congo since the late 1990s and is acknowledged by Islamic State as a linked entity.
In a separate incident in September, the ADF claimed accountability for a deadly assault that resulted in the deaths of over 60 civilians during a funeral in eastern Congo. Despite efforts by the Congolese army and Ugandan forces to combat the ADF, the group’s attacks persist. Notably, certain areas of North Kivu province are controlled by the M23 rebels, supported by Rwanda, who made significant territorial gains this year. International mediators, including the United States and Qatar, are actively engaged in peace negotiations to resolve the conflict, with hopes that a peaceful resolution will pave the way for increased Western investments in the region’s mining industry.