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| Soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) on May 18, 2019 in Butembo, north of Kivu. (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP) |
Eighty-nine civilians were massacred in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in a series of attacks blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group linked to Islamic State. The UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) reported the killings occurred between November 13 and 19 in Lubero territory.
The victims included at least 20 women and an undetermined number of children. In one of the worst attacks, assailants targeted a Catholic health center, killing at least 17 people and setting fire to patient wards.
MONUSCO has called for independent investigations to bring the perpetrators to justice. The ADF, originally from Uganda, has been entrenched in Congo for decades and continues its campaign of violence despite military efforts to stop it.
The massacres worsen the severe security crisis in eastern Congo, where other areas are controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, stoking a wider regional conflict.