The provisional capital of North Kivu, the town of Beni, which houses the provincial institutions, was the target of an attack attributed to ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) terrorists during the night of Saturday 30 May to Sunday 31 May, in the Ngadi district.

The death toll stands at 11 people killed with bladed weapons, including the Pygmy actor Shukurani Nzanzu Mangese, who was very popular in the region. Others were abducted, but the exact number is not yet known.

According to local sources, the rebels attacked the indigenous people’s camp, known as the ‘Pygmy camp’.

The mayor of Ruwenzori commune also stated that a soldier from the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) was killed during the clashes whilst attempting to protect the population from the attackers’ incursion. Several civilians remain missing.

On Sunday morning, tensions remained high in several neighborhoods of Beni. Residents, carrying the bodies of the victims on makeshift stretchers, converged on the town center in an atmosphere of anger and despair. According to witnesses, they intended to hand over the bodies to the local authorities in order to demand answers.

This latest attack has once again reignited security concerns in a city that currently serves as the provisional capital of North Kivu province, against a backdrop of persistent armed violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Before arriving in the Ngadi district of Beni, the ADF had just killed several people in their fields near Vemba-Mavivi and Mayangose. According to some survivors, there are reportedly several bodies of civilians in the Vemba and Mayangose areas.

Seven more bodies of civilians have been discovered along the Kinyamusehe road east of Beni. For his part, Professor Jaribu Muliwavyo, a political science researcher at the University of Goma, has warned of several post-attack scenarios, including a further breakdown of trust between the population and the authorities, with a risk of local self-defense groups emerging.

MP Enock Batsotsi Nyamwisi has expressed his outrage at the deaths of around ten civilians on Sunday during an incursion by ADF rebels into the town of Beni and part of the territory bearing the same name.

In the face of this tragedy, the elected representative questions the role and concrete results of the ongoing military operations. The MP also regrets the shelving of the Integrated Provincial Plan to combat the ADF, a document that emerged from the Peace Forum dedicated to this issue last February.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma