Suspected Islamist rebels kill at least 30 in eastern Congo

KINSHASA, Congo — Suspected Islamist rebels have killed at least 30 people in a series of attacks in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province in recent days, a Congolese military official said Saturday.

The killings took place in Bapere village between Wednesday and Friday, according to Col. Alain Kiwawa, the military administrator of Lubero territory, where the village is located.

“We have more than 30 people dead, and at least a hundred who are being held hostage,” Kiwawa told the Associated Press.

A civil society leader, Samuel Kaheni, the president of the Bapere civil society organization, said that several houses were burned and victims were mostly killed with knives.

The attacks are the latest in a string of recent attacks by Islamic-State-aligned Allied Democratic Force after its members killed nearly 40 people last month in an attack on a Catholic church in Ituri. Most of the victims were killed with machetes.

The ADF, with roots in neighboring Uganda, operates in the border villages between Uganda and Congo. The two countries have launched a joint armed operation against the group, but it has only increased its attacks in recent months.

The incidence of ADF attacks adds to the complicated security challenges in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where dozens of other armed groups are fighting and the central government is battling the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, which have taken control of Goma and other key cities.

Lubero’s military administrator called on the residents to be on guard against further violence.

“I ask the population to speak out and remain vigilant,” he said.

Kamale writes for the Associated Press.