Sehar Timings Mar 29 - Ramazan 18

Lahore
LHR
04:36 AM
Karachi
KHI
05:12 AM
Islamabad
ISB
04:38 AM
Peshawar
PWR
04:42 AM
Quetta
QTA
05:07 AM

News

At least 50 dead in two attacks in eastern DR Congo

May 31, 2021 09:08 PM


At least 50 people were killed overnight in two new attacks in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, monitors said Monday, as a local official blamed a notorious group linked to the Islamic State group (IS).

Citing a toll that is "still provisional", the Kivu Security Tracker (KST) group said 28 people were killed in Boga and 22 in Tchabi, villages lying about 10 kilometres (six miles) apart in an area that has long had a reputation for Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacks and ethnic friction.

The earlier toll was at least 39 dead.

A local civil society leader attributed the attacks to the ADF, a historically Ugandan Islamist group blamed for a string of massacres in the past 18 months.

Two local officials reached in Boga by AFP said the assailants attacked a camp for displaced people. They said 36 bodies had been found so far in Boga, a figure that had yet to be independently confirmed.

The KST, a respected NGO that monitors violence in eastern DRC, said the wife of a traditional leader in Benyali-Tchabi had been killed in the attack on Tchabi.

The ADF is the deadliest of an estimated 122 armed militias that roam the mineral-rich east of the DRC, many of them a legacy of two regional wars that ran from 1996 to 2003.

As of Friday, the KST estimated that at least 1,228 civilians have been killed in the Beni territory of North Kivu alone since November 2019, when DRC forces launched a crackdown that splintered the ADF into smaller groups.

The latest deaths brought the toll from ADF-suspected killings to at least 78 in six days. Three other attacks since last Tuesday have claimed 39 lives.

On March 11, the United States said the ADF was linked to IS, which is also known by the acronym ISIS. The ADF was called ISIS-DRC, or Madina at Tauheed Wau Mujahedeen.

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi on May 6 proclaimed a 30-day "state of siege" in North Kivu and Ituri in a bid to curb bloodshed by the ADF.

Under the move, military and police officers have taken over from civilian authorities.

 

 



Most Read

  1. Man murders young sister by smothering her with pillow in Toba Tek Singh Man murders young sister by smothering her with pillow in Toba Tek Singh
  2. Aitchison College students, parents stage protest against principal’s resignation Aitchison College students, parents stage protest against principal’s resignation
  3. Five Chinese among six killed in Shangla suicide bombing Five Chinese among six killed in Shangla suicide bombing
  4. Sahiba meets her father for the first time Sahiba meets her father for the first time
  5. Maaz Safder regrets 4-year relationship with wife Saba Maaz Safder regrets 4-year relationship with wife Saba
  6. ‘Khaie's incredible ending receives rave reviews and big applause ‘Khaie's incredible ending receives rave reviews and big applause

Opinion

  1. IMEC to sabotage CPEC
    IMEC to sabotage CPEC

    By Dr Asif Channer

  2. 1947 TO FORM 47
    1947 TO FORM 47

    By Dr Asif Channer

  3. Beijing wants to further highlight industrial sector in its country and take scientific innovation to new heights....
    Beijing wants to further highlight industrial sector in its country and take scientific innovation to new heights....

    By Ali Ramay

  4. Global race: China will reduce its unnecessary expenses
    Global race: China will reduce its unnecessary expenses

    By Ali Ramay

  5. Channer Pir: The Great Saint of Cholistan
    Channer Pir: The Great Saint of Cholistan

    By Dr Asif Channer

  6. Literate the Religious Illiterate
    Literate the Religious Illiterate

    By Dr Asif Channer