Several people, including women and children, 'hacked to death' in DRC

Suspected militants have hacked 12 people, including women and children, to death in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said, in the latest attack in the troubled region.

Militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group launched the attack on Thursday night on the village of Bukokoma, in North Kivu province's Beni territory, Ricardo Rupande, a civil-society representative, said on Friday.

Daesh terror group claims the ADF as its central African affiliate. It is one of the deadliest groups in eastern Congo, accused of slaughtering thousands of civilians.

Katanga Matete, an administrator in the Bukokoma area, told AFP news agency that the militants "were opening doors and decapitating people with hatchets and machetes."

Albert Ndungo, a DRC Red Cross official, also confirmed that the 12 people were killed "by bladed weapons," including four women and four children.

AFP was unable to independently confirm the details of the attack.

Thursday's violence follows a similar attack in Beni territory last week, which saw nine people killed.

Over 50 people have been killed in Beni territory in May alone, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

A joint Congolese-Ugandan military operation targeting the ADF in eastern Congo has been underway since late 2021, but attacks have continued.

Much of the volatile region is prey to armed groups, a legacy of regional wars that flared during the 1990s and early 2000s.