UN condemns killing of 52 people in the DR Congo by ISIL-backed rebels

The United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo said ISIL-backed rebels have killed at least 52 civilians this month.

MONUSCO said the attacks by the Uganda-based Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) took place in the Beni and Lubero territories of North Kivu province between 9 and 16 August.

Condemning the killings, MONUSCO said this latest ADF violence was accompanied by kidnappings, looting, and the destruction of property, and warned the death toll could still rise.

People in the region are already facing a precarious humanitarian situation and the UN mission said it would reinforce its support to the Congolese authorities for civilian protection.

The ADF is among several militias wrangling over land and resources in the DRC’s mineral-rich east.

The renewed violence comes as a separate conflict, between the DRC army and the Rwanda-backed M23 group, continues to simmer in the region.

Both sides accuse each other of violating a recently reached United States-mediated ceasefire deal.

The government and M23 had agreed to sign a permanent peace deal by 18 August, but no agreement was announced on Monday.

The ADF was formed in the 1990s by former Ugandan rebels discontent with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

In 2002, following military assaults by government forces, the group moved its activities to neighbouring DRC. In 2019, it pledged allegiance to ISIL.

Since then, the ADF has killed thousands of civilians and increased looting and killings in the northeastern DRC.

MONUSCO reiterated a call by the UN Secretary-General for foreign armed groups in the DRC to lay down their arms unconditionally and return to their countries of origin.