9 Killed in Armed Attack in DR Congo

At least nine people were killed in an armed assault in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to local sources on Sunday.

The attack took place overnight from Saturday to Sunday in the town of Oicha, where armed assailants targeted civilians, looted shops, and set homes ablaze, eyewitnesses told AFP.

Isaac Kavalami, head of the local civil society organisation that brings together unions and associations, reported that eight civilians and one police officer were killed during the incursion carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

A journalist at Oicha General Hospital morgue confirmed seeing nine bodies, some of which bore stab wounds.

Congolese army spokesperson Marc Elongo accused ADF militants of carrying out the assault, saying in a statement that the group had chosen to retaliate against civilians in response to ongoing military operations in the area.

Oicha lies about 30 kilometres north of Beni, which serves as the Congolese army’s military command centre in North Kivu province.

The ADF, originally a Ugandan rebel movement, has been active in eastern Congo for decades and is accused of killing thousands of civilians in a campaign of violence that has intensified in recent years.