At least 70 civilian bodies killed by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group with diffuse links to the Islamic State (IS), have been discovered in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

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The bodies were found this Friday in the territory of Lubero, in the province of North Kivu, after an attack attributed to the ADF near the village of Maiba, where an undetermined number of locals were kidnapped.

Taken hostage on the night of February 11 to 12, the victims, of all ages, were killed in a local church, said the coordinator of the aforementioned committee, Vitwamba Vianney.

“It is suspected that the ADF declared 70 people missing, whose bodies have just been discovered in Kasanga, not far from Maiba,” Vianney explained, as quoted by local media.

“The victims of the massacre were found in a church of the Central African Baptist Community (CBCA). The area is not controlled by government forces,” the source stated.

Although political and administrative authorities have not yet commented on the incident, the local population has been warning since the beginning of the year about the need to strengthen the presence of Congolese army soldiers on the ground.

The territory of Lubero is shaken by ADF rebels, who in the past six months have taken the lives of hundreds of civilians in various localities.

The ADF is a militia of Ugandan origin, but it currently has its bases in the neighboring Congolese provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, where they often carry out attacks and terrorize the population.

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