In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), civil society in part of Beni territory in North Kivu has called for dead city days on 29, 30 and 31 July 2024. The aim is to alert the authorities after a new series of attacks by the armed group ADF in the area. It is difficult to have a figure, but according to civil society leaders, several dozen people were killed last week.
2 min
The figures vary greatly: various civil society leaders speak of between 50 and 90 deaths. And the army of DRCcontacted on July 29, did not provide a definitive assessment: one of the officers on site explained that he did not yet have consolidated data.
What we know is that several localities have been attacked in the last ten days, starting on July 16, by elements identified as presumed ADF-Nalu, an armed group of Ugandan origin that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State organization.
These attacks were concentrated in the territory of Beni, more precisely in the sector of Beni-Mbau where the army has been deployed for two days to secure the area, according to a local official.
Victims killed mainly with knives
Several bodies were taken to the morgue in Oicha, the closest town to the massacre area. Victims were mainly killed with knives. There are also many missing people. Families say they have not been able to contact some of their loved ones.
This modus operandi – attacking village after village – had already been used last June by the ADF, still in the Beni territory, with varying tolls: 41 according to the government, 57 for the United Nations office, and more than a hundred according to local actors.
This area of Beni territory had until now been relatively spared from attacks by this armed group. But ” L“The intensification of Shujaa operations, coordinated between the Congolese and Ugandan armies, have more or less caused the migration of fighters”for Henry-Pacifique Mayala, the coordinator of the Kivu Security Barometer.
Read alsoDRC: New ADF-Nalu attacks cause around forty victims in the Beni region