IRUMU, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – At least 66 civilians have been killed in a grisly attack carried out by fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militant group with known ties to the Islamic State (IS). The killings occurred in the Irumu territory of Ituri province, a volatile region near the Ugandan border, according to multiple local and UN sources.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Ituri described the incident as a “bloodbath,” highlighting the scale and brutality of the assault. Spokesperson Jean Tobie Okala confirmed that the death toll, initially reported as 31, had nearly doubled after more information emerged from local civil society networks.
“Between Thursday and Friday, July 11, we received confirmation of 66 civilians being massacred in Walese Vonkutu chiefdom,” said Okala. “Many of the victims were women, and all were executed using machetes.”
Marcel Paluku, a community leader in the region, said the extent of the attack may not yet be fully known, with several villagers still missing and others believed to have been taken hostage.
ADF Retaliation Suspected Amid Intensified Military Operations
Security analysts suggest that the attack may have been a direct retaliation against ongoing joint military operations launched earlier in the week by Congolese and Ugandan forces. These coordinated efforts have targeted ADF strongholds in the border region, aiming to dismantle the group’s networks.
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The ADF has been active in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for years, despite originating in neighboring Uganda during the 1990s. Since pledging allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019, the group has significantly escalated its attacks, frequently targeting civilians, schools, and places of worship.
A Pattern of Terror Spreading Across the Region
This recent massacre adds to a grim pattern of violence attributed to the ADF in Ituri and North Kivu provinces. The group’s presence has also been steadily expanding toward Goma, eastern Congo’s most populous city.
In previous attacks, the ADF has been accused by rights organizations and the United Nations of committing widespread atrocities, including the killings of hundreds of civilians and the abduction of children. In December last year, at least 10 people were killed, and several others were kidnapped in a separate ADF raid on a village in North Kivu.
A Growing Humanitarian Crisis
The humanitarian implications of the ongoing violence are staggering. Thousands have been displaced in recent months due to ADF and M23 rebel activities. The M23, another rebel group accused of receiving backing from neighboring Rwanda, has contributed to the region’s fragile security situation.
Although Muslims constitute only around 10% of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s population—mostly concentrated in the east—the presence of Islamist-linked militant groups like the ADF poses a severe threat to both Muslim and non-Muslim communities alike.
International Calls for Action
As the region reels from this latest atrocity, international observers and humanitarian organizations are urging stronger global intervention to protect civilians and dismantle militant operations that have taken root in the eastern Congo.
UN agencies, regional governments, and civil society groups have reiterated calls for an immediate scale-up of peacekeeping and intelligence-sharing operations to prevent further bloodshed.
