Agencies (Kinshasa)
Armed men killed at least 38 people in an overnight attack on villages in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, two local officials and a civil society leader said yesterday. Justin Cavalami, a local civil society leader, said the attack was carried out by the rebel group Allied Democratic Forces. It is a group based in eastern Congo. It has previously declared its allegiance to the terrorist organization ISIS, and has continued to launch repeated attacks, which further destabilizes the region in which many armed groups are active.
Another local official, who spoke to the media, said that gunmen used weapons and machetes to attack residents of villages located in the Beni region of North Kivu province on Friday night, Saturday. A third local official also confirmed that the death toll had reached 38, adding that the recent escalation of violence was due to the perpetrators of the attacks exploiting the limited security presence. He added that the perpetrators of the attack “came to slaughter the residents when there were no soldiers in the place.”
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