At least 22 civilians have been killed in an overnight attack blamed on Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources confirmed on Wednesday.
The massacre took place between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in Beu Manyama, a town in the Beni territory of North Kivu Province — an area that has endured years of rebel violence.
Another Massacre in Beni
Local civil society leaders said the attackers descended on the village around midnight, hacking and shooting residents before setting homes on fire. Several others were wounded and are receiving treatment at a local health center.
“They came in large numbers and surrounded the village,” a local chief told reporters. “People were sleeping. There was no time to run.”
The ADF, a militant group with origins in Uganda but based in eastern DRC, has been blamed for thousands of civilian deaths over the past decade. The group has intensified attacks in recent months despite military operations by Congolese and Ugandan forces.
Rising Regional Concern
The latest attack has drawn condemnation from human rights groups and renewed calls for stronger international intervention in eastern DRC, where multiple armed groups operate with near-impunity.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in DRC (MONUSCO) has been gradually withdrawing from the country, raising fears that civilians will be left even more vulnerable to rebel attacks.
East African leaders, including Kenya’s President William Ruto, have repeatedly called for a comprehensive security framework to address the instability in eastern DRC, which has displaced millions and destabilized the broader Great Lakes region.
