Violence rise as ADF rebels killed more than a dozen people in East Congo

At least 16 people were knifed to death by the ADF fighters in the province of Ituri, in Congo, says military and local sources.

According to local civil sources, the victims of the attack on Monday, consisting of two women, were previously taken hostage by members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

Hostages were knifed to death along the main highway near Idohu, in the Ituri remaining province, local officer Dudeonnne Malangai said.

Ituri `Governor, Johnny Luboya Nkashama, speaks in Komanda, about 40km (25 miles) from the incident, condemned those murders.

“We will strengthen our presence in the area,” he said about ALJAZEERA News Agency.

The great government of Central Africa has placed the neighbors of Ituri and Nordkivu neighbors under a surrounding situation since May to promote the fight against armed groups.

ADF is the most dangerous of the armed groups active in the region. The group has been working in Mineral-Rich Eastern DRC for 30 years.

DRC Catholic Church said that ADF has killed about 6,000 civilians since 2013, while a US-based monitor, Kivu security monitoring (KST), held it responsible for more than 1,200 people in Beni Area 2017.

Human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo under President Felix Tshisekedi took a downturn in 2020, against the backdrop of the gains made during his first year in office. Congolese authorities cracked down on peaceful protesters, journalists, and politicians while using state of emergency measures temporarily imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to curb protests.

In eastern Congo, numerous armed groups, and in some cases government security forces, attacked civilians, killing and wounding many. Some of the worst violence took place in Ituri, where ethnic Lendu-led militia has killed hundreds of mostly Hema villagers and forced hundreds of thousands out of their home. The humanitarian situation in the country remained alarming, with 5.5 million people internally displaced. Nearly 930,000 people from Congo were registered as refugees and asylum seekers in at least 20 countries as of November.