Islamic State-backed militants kill dozens in central Africa – rights group
An armed group linked to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) killed least 25 civilians in an attack in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), a local human rights group has alleged.
According to the Convention for the Respect of Human Rights (CRDH), the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) attacked Apakulu, a village in Ituri province, early Sunday morning, and set fire to a house in which 15 men were trapped. Seven others were executed along the road; three people had been killed on Saturday in the communities of Ahombo and Mangwalo, the group reported.
“This incursion by the ADF is a true massacre,” CRDH coordinator Christophe Munyanderu said, noting that “the enemy” had exploited the absence of security forces in the area. He called on the government to deploy troops to protect civilians in the affected communities.
The ADF, originally a Ugandan Islamist group, has waged a violent insurgency in eastern Congo for decades and pledged allegiance to IS in 2019. Its fighters have been blamed for massacres, kidnappings, and bombings.
Last September, the armed group murdered at least 89 people in a string of overnight attacks in North Kivu province. Congolese officials said militants raided a funeral in Ntoyo village, attacking people with machetes and killing at least 60.
Additional killings were reported in Beni, with survivors describing scenes of brutality, including beheadings. A month earlier, the UN mission in Congo (MONUSCO) reported that 52 people were murdered in coordinated assaults across Beni and Lubero, which included abductions, looting, and arson attacks.
In June 2023, the terrorist group crossed into Uganda, looted Lhubiriha Secondary School, and set fire to its dormitories, killing at least 25 children.
DR Congo authorities have said the militants are exploiting instability in North Kivu, where government forces have been battling the M23 rebel movement since clashes escalated in January 2025 in a decades-long conflict over the control of resources.
Ugandan soldiers and their Congolese counterparts have been conducting a joint offensive against the ADF and other IS-affiliated rebels since November 2021, under Operation Shujaa, targeting their strongholds in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
