Militant attacks kill over dozen in eastern DRC

A wave of attacks on villages in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo attributed to Daesh-affiliated ADF militants have killed at least 15 people, local officials said.

Sunday's killings come a week after a similar attack left at least 23 people dead.

"There were simultaneous attacks this Sunday between 4:00 and 5:00 am on three villages...," said local official Dieudonne Malangai.

"In Manyala village we found seven bodies... at Ofay, there were eight dead, including seven women," Malangai told AFP news agency, and indicated that the final toll might be higher.

A humanitarian source confirmed seven fatalities in Manyala and "at least eight" in Ofay.

"These ADF rebels also attacked Bandibese village but ran into resistance from soldiers who intervened and so there were no civilian deaths," Malangai said after the raids on three villages in Ituri province bordering Rwanda.

"We are tired of giving the death toll day after day," he added.

ADF fighters were also blamed for last week's raids in the neighbouring province of North Kivu cost at least 23 lives while in the same province at least 14 people were killed in a bomb blast at a pentecostal church.

Daesh portrays the ADF as its central African incarnation.

In an attempt to stem the violence the government in May 2021 declared a state of alert in North Kivu and Ituri, replacing civil administrators with police and troops.

READ MORE: Several killed in eastern DRC attack blamed on Daesh-linked Ugandan group