Villagers brutally massacred in DRC's eastern Ituri province

By Linda Bordoni

According to local sources, the 12 men and woman who were brutally killed in the village of Masome, in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern Ituri province, were found bearing signs of torture.

The Irumu territory in Ituri, where the attack occurred on Friday, is a regular theatre of violence attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces armed group.

The ADF has been accused of murdering thousands of Congolese civilians and carrying out bomb attacks in neighbouring Uganda.

It is one of the most feared of more than 120 armed groups that are active in DRC’s volatile east, but authorities said it is too early to say who was responsible for the gruesome attack.

Ongoing violence

Friday’s attack comes just two weeks after a similar massacre of civilians in the village of Kymata, also in Ituri province.

Fourteen people were killed in that attack and two children went missing. According to witnesses, they were kidnapped by the attackers who also set fire to the village.

The Congolese government placed Ituri province and its neighbour North Kivu under a state of siege in May 2021 but has failed to curb the violence since.

In fact, much of eastern DRC has seen a spike in violence this year, terrorizing and frustrating residents who say the army and the United Nations peacekeeping mission, known as MONUSCO, are not doing enough to keep people safe.