Islamic State‑linked fighters kill 71 in Congo funeral attack

Fighters linked to the Islamic State group killed 71 people in an attack in eastern Congo. Photo / Getty Images

Fighters linked to the Islamic State group killed 71 people in an overnight attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s east, local and security sources told AFP on Tuesday.

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group founded by former Ugandan rebels who pledged allegiance to IS in 2019, struck the village of Ntoyo in North Kivu province while residents were paying their respects at a funeral, the sources said.

It follows a string of deadly raids by the mostly Muslim militia across North Kivu and neighbouring Ituri province to the north in July and August, killing scores and shattering several months of relative calm in the restive region.

“For the moment, we have a toll of 71 dead,” Macaire Sivikunula, an official in the Bapere sector which includes Ntoyo, told AFP. Security sources confirmed that tally to AFP.

“Most of the people who were killed were at a funeral,” said Samuel Kagheni, a local civil society leader, adding that at least 14 homes were set alight in the assault.

Some of the victims “were burnt alive in their homes, and others who tried to flee were shot dead”, Kagheni said.

Four other people were wounded by the ADF’s militants, he added.

According to an AFP tally, the group has killed more than 150 civilians across Ituri and North Kivu since July.

Both the Ugandan and Congolese armies have sent troops to the region to tackle the ADF, which has killed thousands of civilians across the unrest-plagued Congolese northeast.

- Agence France-Presse