Rebel fighters have killed at least 22 people in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), officials said on Sunday.
In an interview with Reuters, Richard Kivanzanga, the deputy administrator of Beni territory, said he had counted 22 bodies on Sunday in the villages of Baoba and Ntombi.
“The assailants killed women, men and children,” Kivanzanga said. “It wasn’t possible to evacuate all the bodies today because we had to wait for an escort from the army.”
Attacks on civilians have been on a surge since the Congolese army launched an offensive on Oct. 30 against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan Islamist group active in eastern Congo. The ADF has retaliated by carrying out massacres, in an apparent bid to discourage civilians from helping the military. Last week, six civilians were killed in another attack in the eastern city of Beni.
Similar attacks have killed at least 179 civilians in the last few months. The surge in violence has created furor among the people who launched protests against the army and U.N. peacekeepers for being unable to provide protection.
It is estimated that about 160 rebel groups with more than 20,000 fighters are active in DRC’s east, many of them concerned with wresting control of natural resources. The U.S. Treasury recently imposed sanctions on six members of the ADF, including its leader Musa Baluku.
The frequent deadly attacks have also complicated efforts to curb an Ebola outbreak in the area. Infections have started to rise in areas health workers have been unable to access due to insecurity. Last week, the World Health Organization reported an almost 300% increase in cases in the last three weeks, with 17 of 27 linked to a single chain of transmission.
According to the latest figures from the African Union, the DRC Ebola outbreak has claimed over 2,209 lives since it broke out, with 3,327 recorded cases.
