Up to 80 People Killed by Suspected Ugandan Rebels in Congo

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The Congolese Civil Society of North Kivu has said on Friday that between 50 and 80 people have been killed in attacks by suspected Ugandan ADF-NALU rebels near the eastern Congolese town of Beni. Reuters has more:

In a statement, Civil Society of North Kivu, the province where Beni is situated, said the killings occurred on Thursday evening around 10 km (6 miles) east of Beni airport, where U.N. peacekeepers are based. The U.N. mission, known as MONUSCO, was not available for comment.

Government and civil society groups have blamed a string of recent attacks in eastern Congo on ADF, a secretive organization formed in the 1990s to fight the Ugandan government, but some analysts have questioned this assessment.

North Kivu Governor Julien Paluku told Reuters nine bodies had arrived at the morgue in the nearby town of Oicha but said the toll could rise. Paluku also blamed the Ugandan rebels.

“They were savagely killed by the ADF…It was far from the main road. About 12 kilometers from Mavivi, I believe, in the bush,” he said.