By Spy Uganda
At least 20 people have been killed in a new massacre in DR Congo’s eastern province of Ituri, a respected monitor said on Monday, adding that the notorious ADF militia were suspected.
The attack took place overnight in the village of Bwanasura in Irumu territory, the Kivu Security Tracker (KST) said on Twitter.
David Beiza, head of the Red Cross in Irumu, said volunteers from his organisation “have counted 36 bodies” at the site of the massacre.
Ituri and neighbouring North Kivu province are struggling with attacks by armed groups, many of them a legacy of wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s east.
KST said the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) — a group that the so-called Islamic State describes as its affiliate — was suspected to have been behind the killing.
Beiza said, “ADF rebels arrived around eight pm. They moved calmly. Fortunately, many residents were able to flee.”
Dieudonne Malangay, a civil society leader in the district of Walese Vonkutu said the army was “late” in responding. “Bullets are still flying” in the area, he said.
The ADF has been blamed for massacres, kidnappings and looting dating back to 2013, with a toll in lives estimated in the thousands.
Ituri and North Kivu have been under a “state of siege” since May last year — a measure placing army chiefs in positions of authority to speed up efforts to improve security.
The ADF was also targeted in a joint operation launched last November by government and Ugandan forces following bomb attacks in the Ugandan capital Kampala.
The operation, which was due to end on May 31, has been extended by two months.
