At least 18 people, including 14
civilians, have been killed in a rebel attack in Beni in Democratic
Republic of Congo’s restive east, an army spokesperson told AFP on
Sunday.
Four
soldiers were among the dead following the attack on Saturday night,
military official Mak Hazukai said, with witnesses describing gunfire
and groups of assailants slashing victims with machetes.
The
Beni region, not far from the Ugandan border, is under siege from the
Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist rebel group blamed for
hundreds of civilian deaths over the past four years.
“The
territory and the city of Beni are facing ADF terrorism whose command
structure is led by Ugandans,” said Hazukai, adding that nine people
were also wounded in Saturday’s violence.
The
ADF is a militia initially created by Muslim rebels to oppose Ugandan
President Yoweri Museveni, but also operates in the DRC.
“The
surprise attack happened in the streets of Beni city,” a doctor at the
local hospital told AFP. Four of the dead were killed while travelling
in a taxi.
According to several witness accounts, the attack started around 1630-1700 GMT.
“There were lots of attackers, they gave a shout of joy... The rebels cut victims with a machete,” witness Kasero Mumbi said.
Heavy
and light calibre gunfire was heard for several hours until after
midnight local time. It was not known whether the army counter-attacked.
The rebels targeted areas near the centre of the city, home to several hundred thousand people.
“The
people of North Kivu are suffering too much. This weekend again many
innocent people have died,” Dutch Ambassador Robert Schuddeboom said.
The
ADF has been in the east of DR Congo since 1995 and is accused by the
UN and Congolese authorities of committing a series of civilian
massacres since 2014.
However, in
2015 the New York University Study Group on Congo said it was not just
the ADF behind the killings and that other armed elements, including
members of the Congolese army, were also to blame.
Beni
is in North Kivu province, one of the most populated areas of the DRC,
and home to a number of armed groups that kill or abduct civilians.
Foreign humanitarian workers have been stationed in Beni since early August to deal with a new Ebola outbreak in the region.