March 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
At least nine civilians have been killed and several have been kidnapped in what is considered the first attack by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militias in the hinterland of Lubero, in the Congolese province of North Kivu, northeast of the country.
The ADF, created in Uganda in the 1990s, suffered a split in 2019 after United Nations and US sanctioned Musa Baluku swore allegiance to the jihadist group Islamic State in Central Africa (ISCA), under whose flag has been active since then.
Civil society sources and tribal notables describe the attack as the first time the ADF has dared to appear inside the country. Until now, its activities had been limited to the territory of Beni, also in North Kivu but very close to the border with Uganda and in the province of Ituri, in the north of the country, specifically in Irumu and Mambasa.
It must be remembered that the United Nations has accused the group of executing around 1,200 civilians during 2021, according to a report published in January last year by the UN Joint Office for Human Rights in the DRC.
The Lubero attack took place in the town of Nguli, as confirmed to Radio Okapi by the provincial deputy Jean-Paul Lumbulumbu, at around 9:00 p.m. on Saturday. The number of kidnapped is unknown.
It should also be noted that North Kivu is the epicenter of fighting between the Army and the March 23 Movement rebel group, in a volatile situation that has left more than 800,000 displaced and could worsen even more with these new attacks by the militias.
