Daesh-linked group kills nearly two dozen in eastern DRC

At least 20 people have been killed in an attack in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC], with Daesh terror group claiming responsibility for the massacre. 

"The enemy ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) ambushed farmers at around 4 pm (1400 GMT) on Friday near the village of Enebula," local civil society leader Patrick Mukohe told the AFP news agency by phone on Saturday.

ADF is a Daesh-allied militant group. 

Mukohe said he had counted 21 bodies of men and women at the site of the massacre, some 30 kilometres west of the town of Oicha, in North Kivu province.

Jules Kambale, who works in the Oicha hospital morgue, said it had received 19 bodies.

Local activist Janvier Kasereka Kasayirio said 22 bodies had arrived at a nearby hospital.

Charles Ehuta Omeanga, the regional military administrator, confirmed the attack, which he attributed to "ADF terrorists", but said he was not in a position to give a definitive toll.

Daesh later claimed responsibility for the attack on their Telegram channel.

An army spokesperson in the North Kivu region where the attack took place, Anthony Mwalushay, said the assailants used machetes "to avoid confrontation with the army".

In a video shared on social media, and authenticated by Mukohe, a crowd surrounds the body of a man tied to a wooden frame, his throat slit.

The body is placed in a tarpaulin and added to a pile of blood-stained body bags.

READ MORE: UN says Daesh-linked group killed dozens of civilians in DRC

'Catastrophic situation'

The ADF, originally insurgents in Uganda, gained a foothold in eastern DRC in the 1990s and has since been accused of killing thousands of civilians, becoming the deadliest of some 120 militia groups and outlawed forces in the deeply troubled region.

Since 2019, some ADF attacks in eastern DRC have been claimed by Daesh, which describes the group as its local offshoot, Daesh Central Africa Province.

When the bodies of the latest victims arrived at the Oicha morgue, some youths tried to block the nearby national road in protest.

They were quickly dispersed by the police who, according to one civil society source, fired bullets in the process.

"The situation here is catastrophic," the source said.

On Thursday, the United Nations mission in the country, MONUSCO, said that more than 30 people had been killed by the ADF in neighbouring Ituri province earlier in the week.

Last month, the United States offered a reward of up to $5 million for information concerning ADF leader Seka Musa Baluku.

READ MORE: No retreat by M23 rebels from eastern DRC on deadline