Over 20 killed by suspected Islamists in eastern Congo

Suspected Islamist rebels killed over 20 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province on Wednesday, two officials from the local administration said on Thursday.

The attack took place in the village of Mayikengo in Lubero territory.

Lubero administrator Alain Kiwewa said a toll of between 20 and 30 had been reported on Thursday morning. He blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group affiliated to the Islamic State that started as a Ugandan insurgency but has operated from the jungles of eastern Congo for almost three decades.

Another local official, sector chief Macaire Sivikunula, said 25 people were killed including six women. He also blamed the ADF.

The assailants asked residents to gather in a market for a meeting and then attacked the crowd with firearms and machetes, Sivikunula said.

The ADF are accused of killing over 80 people in similar attacks on villages in the same province last week.

/MHK/