Suspected fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed at least three villagers during a Saturday-night raid on Idohu in Ituri Province, UN-backed Radio Okapi reported.
Witnesses said gunmen armed with rifles and machetes swept into Idohu around 7 p.m. local time, firing indiscriminately and breaking into homes. Army troops eventually intervened, but residents discovered three bodies — including that of a woman — on Sunday morning in Walesse-Vonkutu chiefdom. Local authorities warned the death toll could rise because several people are still missing.
The assault is the second on Idohu this year; an ADF attack in March left roughly 10 people dead. It also comes just days after the Islamist group slaughtered 43 civilians, among them Catholic catechumens, in an overnight rampage in nearby Komanda.
Originally formed in Uganda, the ADF has entrenched itself in eastern DR Congo’s lawless borderlands, where it pledges allegiance to the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province. The militia stages regular strikes on rural communities and security posts, exploiting the region’s chronic instability to expand its reach.