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KINSHASA, Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Daesh‑linked militants killed at least 22 civilians in a village in eastern Congo’s Ituri Province early on Sunday, according to an internal U.N. report and local civil society leaders, the latest in a series of deadly attacks in the region.
The U.N. report said the assailants struck Apakolu, about 25 km northwest of Eringeti in Ituri province’s Irumu territory, at around 0400 GMT on Sunday, and abducted an unknown number of people.
Christophe Munyanderu, head of the local rights group known by its French acronym CRDH, based in Irumu, said 25 civilians had been killed, including 15 men whose bodies were found inside a house and seven others along a road.
The attackers were identified as members of the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan armed group active in eastern Congo that is recognised by Daesh as an affiliate.
The U.N. report said Sunday’s attack in Apakolu came two days after ADF fighters attacked the nearby village of Kazaraho, where they clashed with the army and local militia groups.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack in Kazaraho and said it also abducted and killed three Christians.
In a separate incident, local officials said ADF fighters attacked the village of Musengo in Lubero territory, North Kivu province, on Saturday night, burning houses, shops, and a Catholic church.
Colonel Alain Kiwewa, administrator of Lubero territory, said that two Congolese soldiers were killed during the army’s response. He said 14 houses were destroyed, along with the local health centre and part of the church. Congo’s army and Ugandan forces have pursued operations against the ADF, but the group’s raids persist across the region.
The ADF was responsible for 138 killings in eastern Congo in November, according to a tally published last week by the U.N. human rights office, making them one of the region’s most lethal armed groups. — NNN-AGENCIES