/
RSS Feed
Rebels linked to the Islamic State (IS) group have killed more than 50 people in a brutal overnight attack on a funeral in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials say.
Most of the victims were hacked to death with machetes when fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) stormed the village of Ntoyo in North Kivu province on Monday night. Some homes were also set ablaze.
“This is utter carnage,” local witnesses told broadcaster Radio Mishapi Voice. A local administrator confirmed a provisional death toll of 50, while the army said troops arrived only after the massacre had already taken place.
The ADF, which originated in Uganda in the 1990s, is now based in eastern DR Congo and is affiliated with IS’s Central African Province. It has been blamed for a string of increasingly deadly assaults, including the killing of more than 40 people—among them nine children—at a church service in Komanda in July.
Analysts warn that nearly 90% of IS operations worldwide are now carried out by its African affiliates, raising fears that the insurgency in DR Congo is growing stronger.
