At least 52 civilians have been killed in a series of brutal attacks by Islamic State-backed Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in the Beni and Lubero territories of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to local officials and the United Nations.

The massacres, which occurred between August 9 and 16, were described by witnesses as deliberate and methodical. Rebels armed with machetes and hoes stormed villages, waking residents in the night, tying them up, and killing them in groups.

“When they arrived, they first woke the residents, gathered them in one place, tied them up with ropes, and then began to massacre them with machetes and hoes,” said Macaire Sivikunula, chief of Lubero’s Bapere sector.

At least 30 of the victims were killed in the village of Melia alone, according to Alain Kiwewe, the military administrator of Lubero territory. “Among the victims were children and women whose throats were slit in their homes, while several houses were set on fire,” he added.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO) condemned the violence “in the strongest possible terms,” confirming that the death toll included eight women and two children. The number of casualties may rise as searches continue.

Military officials said the killings were acts of retaliation after ADF fighters suffered battlefield losses to Congolese forces. “The rebels were taking revenge on civilians after defeats by our forces,” said regional army spokesperson Lieutenant Elongo Kyondwa Marc.

The ADF, originally a Ugandan rebel group, is one of many armed factions operating in mineral-rich eastern Congo. It has pledged allegiance to Islamic State and has increasingly targeted civilians in a campaign of terror.

Despite intensified joint operations by the Congolese and Ugandan armies, the group continues to carry out deadly raids. Just last month, ADF fighters killed 38 worshippers in an attack on a church in eastern Congo.

The ongoing violence underscores the fragile security situation in eastern DRC, where local populations remain trapped between military offensives and retaliatory rebel attacks. (AriseNews TV)