ADF rebels kill at least 10 in eastern Congo village attack

*Event date: 2025-01-15.*

At least 10 people were killed in eastern Congo when rebels linked to the Islamic State group attacked the village of Makoko in North Kivu province, according to a provincial official. The assault was blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces, an armed group with roots in Uganda and an increasingly violent presence in eastern Congo.

David Sikuli, a provincial member of parliament, told The Associated Press that the attack took place in Lubero territory. He said there were no Congolese soldiers in the village, only local fighters known as Wazalendo who often work alongside government forces. Sikuli also called for joint Congo-Uganda military operations to be expanded to all areas where the ADF is active.

The ADF has become one of the most feared armed groups in the region. It formed in the late 1990s in neighboring Uganda and affiliated with ISIS in 2019. In recent years its attacks have intensified near the border with Uganda and spread toward Goma and Ituri province. Rights groups and the United Nations have accused the group of killing hundreds of people and abducting many more, including children.

Eastern Congo has been trapped in armed violence for decades, with more than 120 groups fighting over power, land and mineral wealth or trying to defend their communities. The result has been mass displacement: nearly 7 million people have fled their homes. The attack on Makoko fits into that broader pattern of repeated civilian harm in a region where state authority remains thin and armed groups can move quickly.

The AP report also notes that the ADF killed at least 10 people and abducted several more in another North Kivu village in December, underlining how often the same communities are exposed to repeat attacks. That repetition makes the problem more than a single raid or one-off massacre. It is a sustained campaign of pressure on villages that often have little protection.

For local residents, the immediate reality is fear and burial, not strategic analysis. For Congo and Uganda, the question is how much military cooperation can be widened without simply pushing armed groups elsewhere. The source does not answer that question, but it confirms a grim fact: the ADF remains active, lethal and able to strike again in North Kivu.

The presence of Wazalendo fighters in the village shows how thin the security cushion is in parts of eastern Congo. Local groups can help fill gaps, but they do not provide the same deterrent as a sustained military presence, especially when attackers are mobile and have shown they can strike repeatedly. That is why the call for wider Congo-Uganda operations matters beyond one village.

The AP report makes clear that the ADF is not a new threat but an entrenched one. Its reach near Goma and into Ituri means people in North Kivu live with the possibility that attacks can spread beyond one locality. For residents, that means the main question after each killing is not whether violence will return, but when and where it will hit next.