Rebels kill 52 people with hoes and machetes in DR Congo

Armed with hoes and machetes, rebels linked to Islamic State killed at least 52 people in a string of attacks in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in August, the UN said.

The Congolese military said ADF sought to take revenge on the civilian population after a string of losses inflicted on the group by government forces.

Between August 9 and 16, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked villages in the Beni and Lubero territories in North Kivu province, according to a press release by the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in DRC (MONUSCO) on Monday.

At least eight women and two children were killed in the assault, MONUSCO said, warning that the death toll could rise further.

The assailants woke villagers up in the middle of the night and tied them up before massacring them with machetes and hoes, local authorities told Reuters.

The violence was accompanied by kidnappings, looting, the burning of homes, vehicles, and motorcycles, MONUSCO said.

”These attacks targeting civilians, which come on top of the atrocities committed during the night of 26 to 27 July in Komanda, are intolerable and constitute serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law”, Bintou Keita, head of MONUSCO, said.

The ADF killed dozens of worshippers at a catholic church in Komanda during an overnight prayer vigil on July 26.

The terrorist organisation was formed by disparate insurgency groups in Uganda in the late 1990s following alleged discontent with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

In 2002, following military assaults by Ugandan forces, the ADF moved its activities to neighbouring DRC and has since been responsible for the killings of thousands of civilians.

In response to this new wave of violence, MONUSCO has increased its military presence and support to the Congolese authorities.

The organisation said it had already provided physical protection to at least 206 civilians, including 70 women and 93 children, who have taken refuge at its military base.