12 Killed in Rebel Attack in Northeastern Congo

An extremist rebel group has killed at least 12 people in northeastern Congo, a local civil society organization said Saturday.

The New Congolese Civil Society Organization, or NSCC, said the victims were shot dead by the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, a shadowy group affiliated with the Islamic State group that has been carrying out attacks for years from bases in restive eastern Congo, after a skirmish with a local armed militia group.

Conflict in eastern Congo has been going on for decades as countless armed groups fight for control of valuable mineral resources. There are frequent mass killings, and the violence has led to a mass exodus of refugees.

Farmers in nearby villages discovered the bloodied bodies of 12 people in the bush early Friday as they left to work in their fields. The death toll remains tentative as the search continues for other bodies in the area, according to NSCC coordinator John Vuleverio.

Colonel Jean-Baptiste Munyampazi, in charge of the territory where the bodies were found, refused to provide an official death toll, stating that government soldiers stationed in the area were actively hunting down the alleged perpetrators.

In June, the Australian Defense Force is suspected of killing at least 41 people - mostly students - in a brutal attack on a school in Uganda, near the border with Congo.