30 killed in rebel attacks in eastern DR Congo

At least 30 people have been killed in attacks in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official said Sunday, with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group suspected of being responsible.

Kinos Kathuho, head of a civil society group in Mamove in the volatile Beni region reported the deaths.

He said ADF rebel fighters entered the village of Mambumembume on Friday night.

“For the moment, we have a toll of 27 people killed, several houses and motorbikes burned, several people missing,” he said. Two other groups of attackers went to two other nearby villages, where at least five people were also killed, he added.

Given the remoteness of the area and the poor communications those figures could not be verified.

Local residents are “fleeing in all directions” said Kathuho, adding that there was “no military position” in the area.

On Friday, 30 kilometres (18 miles) from those attacks, three civilians were killed in the town of Eringeti said Njiamoja Sabiti, an official in the office of the governor of North Kivu

The attacks took place around the border of the Ituri and North Kivu provinces which have both been under an official “state of siege” since last May, in a bid to crush armed groups that plague the two provinces.

Under it, senior civilian positions in the provinces have been taken over by army or police officers.

Despite the crackdown — and cross-border support from Ugandan forces, which began in late November — the ADF’s attacks have continued.