Gun barrel. Residents on Thursday said a group of attackers had set several houses on fire in the middle of the night in the city’s Beu district, firing upon people as they exited the buildings. File picture: ANA
CAPE TOWN – At least 10 people have been killed in an overnight raid in the troubled eastern Democratic Republic Congo, International broadcaster Al Jazeera reported on Thursday.
Residents on Thursday said a group of attackers had set several houses on fire in the middle of the night in the city’s Beu district, firing upon people as they exited the buildings and attacking some with machetes, Al Jazeera said.
There was no immediate claim for responsibility, but officials blamed the attack on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group. An estimated 122 armed groups roam the eastern border provinces of the DRC, many of them a legacy of regional wars in the 1990s. The bloodiest is the ADF, a historically Ugandan Islamist group that has carried out massacres across the Central African country.
“Overnight, there was an attack by ADF enemies. We lost around 10 civilians,” lieutenant Anthony Mualushayi told news agency AFP. An AFP correspondent saw the 10 bodies in the morgue of Beni’s general hospital.
With reports of missing people, there are fears the death toll can rise. According to a tally compiled by the DRC’s Catholic church, the ADF has been responsible for at least 6,000 deaths since 2013.
Meanwhile, the government has vowed to end the activities of armed groups in the eastern city of Beni following bomb attacks on Sunday, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.
At least two people were injured when a home-made bomb exploded in a church in Beni city in the country’s North Kivu province. Witnesses said the explosion also destroyed several pews and other objects on the spot.
On Monday, the city of Beni closed its schools, markets and churches for 48 hours as the attacks sparked fears of further violence, according to AFP.
President Felix Tshisekedi declared the siege on May 3, citing the need to restore peace and security in the two troubled provinces where decades of armed conflicts and violence have left thousands of people dead and forced thousands others to flee their homes.
According to news agency AFP, Tshisekedi ordered military and police officers to take over civil authorities in the regions.
The United Nations Children’s Fund said the conflict has led to grave violations against children since January, including their recruitment into armed groups, their maiming and killing, sexual violence and attacks on schools and hospitals.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay