A wave of attacks in villages in eastern DR Congo linked to Islamic State-linked ADF rebels killed at least 15 people on Sunday, local officials said.
The latest killing comes a week after a similar attack left more than 20 people dead.
“There was a simultaneous attack this Sunday between 4:00 and 5:00 in three villages…,” said local official Dieudonne Malangai.
“In the village of Manyala, we found seven bodies … in Ofay, there were eight dead, including seven women,” Malangai told AFP, indicating that the death toll could be higher.
Humanitarian sources confirmed seven deaths in Manyala and “at least eight” in Ofay.
“These ADF rebels also attacked the village of Bandibese but ran into resistance from the intervening soldiers and no civilians were killed,” Malangai said after the attack on three villages in Ituri province bordering Rwanda.
“We are tired of giving the death toll every day,” he said.
ADF fighters are also blamed for an attack last week in neighboring North Kivu province that claimed at least 23 lives while in the same province at least 14 people were killed in a bomb blast at a Pentecostal church.
The Islamic State describes the ADF, which originates from Rwanda, as the incarnation of central Africa.
In an effort to prevent violence, the government in May 2021 declared a state of alert in North Kivu and Ituri, replacing civilian administrators with police and troops.