Deaths as ADF rebels attack eastern DRC commune

At least 10 civilians have died during an attack in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), local sources said, blaming the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group.

"This morning, the ADF raided Mangodomu (in the Mangina commune, Beni territory), to visibly stock up on medicine and food," the mayor of Mangina, Emmanuel Kathembo Salamu, said.

"They set fire to a pavilion at the health centre, looted the stores and burned down the houses."

Salamu blamed the ADF, established in eastern DRC in 1995. Its adherents have since killed thousands of civilians.

The ADF pledged allegiance to the Daesh in 2019.

"The army is in contact with the enemy. Psychosis reigns here," the mayor said.

The ADF attacked the Mangodomu district mid-morning, said Muongozi Kakule Vunyatsi of A Mangina civil society association.

He gave a provisional death toll of 10 civilians including a patient at the health centre.

Captain Antony Mwalushayi, an army spokesman for the region, did not confirm the toll but stressed that DRC's armed forces (FARDC) had "neutralised four terrorists" and "freed four young girls" who had been kidnapped.

"The army's intervention arrived a little late, our soldiers here in Mangina do not even have a vehicle for their interventions," said Nicaisse Kasereka, president of the commune's "youth parliament".

In late 2021, the Ugandan and Congolese armies launched a joint military operation against the ADF but they have failed to stop their attacks.