Suspected Islamist rebels kill at least 30 in North Kivu

Suspected Islamist rebels kill at least 30 in North Kivu

At least 30 people have been killed in a series of attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, in violence officials and local leaders blame on suspected Islamist rebels linked to the Islamic State-aligned Allied Democratic Forces.

The attacks took place in Bapere village in North Kivu province between Wednesday and Friday, according to the evidence from the Associated Press. A Congolese military official, Col. Alain Kiwawa, said more than 30 people were dead and at least 100 others were being held hostage. Samuel Kaheni, who leads the Bapere civil society organization, said several houses were burned and that many of the victims were killed with knives.

That detail is important because it shows the assault was not a single isolated attack but a series of killings spread over several days. The scale also underscores how unstable eastern Congo remains, even as the country’s authorities and neighboring Uganda continue joint operations against the ADF.

The ADF has roots in neighboring Uganda and operates in border communities between Uganda and Congo. The evidence says the group has intensified its attacks in recent months despite the joint military campaign. Those attacks have added to a wider security crisis in eastern Congo, where dozens of armed groups are active and the central government is also dealing with the M23 rebellion, which has seized key territory including Goma.

The latest killings came after the ADF killed nearly 40 people last month in an attack on a Catholic church in Ituri. That earlier attack is relevant because it suggests the group is still capable of repeated mass-casualty violence and can strike civilians in different parts of the east.

Local authorities urged residents to stay alert. Kiwawa said people should speak out and remain vigilant. In practice, that warning reflects a grim reality: many communities in the east have little confidence that armed operations alone can keep attackers away.

The evidence does not say exactly who the hostage takers are, whether any rescue effort is under way, or whether the final death toll could rise. But it does show a clear pattern: an armed group with a brutal record, a civilian population trapped between militias and government forces, and a security environment in which both murder and abduction remain tools of control.

For residents of Bapere, the immediate story is the dead, the missing, and the burned houses. For Congo’s authorities, it is another sign that the eastern war has not settled into containment. Instead, violence keeps spilling into villages that are already exposed and undersupplied, and the number of people caught in the middle continues to grow.