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2nd LD Writethru Roundup: 17 killed by suspected Ugandan rebels in eastern DR Congo

Xinhua, May 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least 17 people were killed on Tuesday evening by suspected fighters of the Ugandan rebel group, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), in Mimibo and Mutsonge villages, located 60 km northeast of Beni town, North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).

The death toll was reported on Wednesday by DR Congo army spokesman for Sokola 1 operation, Lieutenant Mac Azukayi who said those killed included 10 women and five children.

The spokesman said the death toll was provisional, but did not confirm the number of casualties on the side of the assailants.

According to various eyewitnesses, the assailants broke into people's homes and hacked their victims to death by using blunt objects or shooting them. The victims were members of different families.

According to Maj. Gen. Stephen Kasereka, the deputy commander in charge of operations in DR Congo Third Defense Zone, soldiers of the national army who are based at the nearby Eringeti camp were informed immediately after the assailants began shooting. The attackers later fled after the intervention of the DR Congo soldiers.

Earlier, a local non-governmental organization led by Omar Kavota, a human rights advocate, issued a statement confirming the ADF attack in Mimibo and Mutsonge localities on Tuesday evening.

Kavota revealed that the scene of the attack was situated about 200 meters from a camp of the UN Mission for Stabilization of Congo (MONUSCO).

Earlier on Tuesday, North Kivu civil society groups revealed that at least 1,017 people have been killed since 2014 by rebel groups in Beni and Lubero territories in the same province.

The civil society groups added that the armed groups that include ADF, have kidnapped about 1,391 people and raped 41 women in Beni and Lubero territories during the same period. Endit