Islamic State-linked militants stage deadly attack in DR Congo
At least 13 civilians have been killed and 14 others abducted in an attack on a village in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo blamed on the Islamic State-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), multiple outlets reported on Saturday.
The assailants entered Banana Ecole, about 20 km from Mambasa territory in Ituri province, on the evening of August 7, looting and burning homes, local outlet Actualite reported, citing rights group Protection Plus.
No group immediately claimed responsibility. However, local witnesses attributed the raid to the ADF based on the tactics used by the attackers.
“This death toll of 13 civilians is only provisional because most residents aren’t responding to calls, and searches are continuing in other surrounding villages,” Marie-Noelle Anotane, the head of the New Civil Society of Congo/Mambasa, told AP.
The attack has left residents facing a choice between remaining amid the violence or fleeing elsewhere in Ituri – the province worst affected by an Ebola outbreak that has killed 1,916 people, according to the authorities.
The ADF, originally a Ugandan Islamist group, has waged a violent insurgency in eastern Congo for decades and pledged allegiance to IS in 2019. Its fighters have been blamed for massacres, kidnappings, and bombings.
In late July, suspected ADF raids on several communities in Mambasa reportedly killed at least 27 civilians and left 11 missing. Weeks earlier, militants killed more than 20 people in Mbau, North Kivu province. In April, the Congolese Army confirmed another 43 deaths in Mambasa despite joint Congolese-Ugandan operations against the group.
The DR Congo’s mineral-rich east has been plagued by decades of violence, with dozens of armed groups, including M23, fighting Congolese forces for power and control of resources such as gold and coltan. Clashes escalated in early 2025, killing thousands and forcing large-scale displacement, according to UN agencies. The rebels seized Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in late January and later captured Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu.
Ceasefire efforts have repeatedly faltered, including Qatar-facilitated talks in Doha. Congolese authorities have long accused Rwanda of supporting the militants, allegations backed by a UN panel of experts. Kigali has denied the claims. The accusations have strained Rwanda’s relations with Western partners, including Belgium. In March, Kigali severed diplomatic ties with Brussels, accusing it of harboring “neo-colonial delusions” and interfering in the conflict.
In December, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, ratified a US-brokered agreement committing Kigali to withdraw its forces from the border and end alleged support for M23, while Kinshasa pledged to curb militias hostile to Rwanda. US President Donald Trump has said the pact, which includes calls for a joint security mechanism, gives Washington rights to local mineral wealth. The fighting has continued despite Trump’s claims that he ended the decades-long conflict.
The latest violence comes amid an escalating security crisis across eastern DR Congo, where the authorities are confronting the ADF and numerous other armed groups, including M23. Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels, who have intensified their fighting with government forces since January 2025. The violence has killed or injured thousands and triggered a record 9.7 million internal displacement movements in 2025, according to UN and Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre data.
A US-brokered peace agreement signed in Washington last year by DR Congo and Rwanda, which denies backing M23, has failed to end the fighting. The deal committed both countries to halt hostilities and support separate Qatar-mediated negotiations between Kinshasa and M23.
Violent clashes between M23 and the Wazalendo, an alliance of pro-government militias, were reported in Shango, North Kivu, earlier this month. In July, M23-allied fighters claimed to have captured the strategic Point Zero base in South Kivu’s Mwenga territory. M23 had previously seized Goma in January 2025 and Bukavu the following month.
