In December, the ADF killed at least 10 people and abducted several more in another village in North Kivu…reports Asian Lite News Desk
At least 10 people were killed in eastern Congo by extremist rebels linked to the Daesh, a local official said on Wednesday.
The rebels with the Allied Democratic Forces, a Daesh affiliate in the region, attacked the village of Makoko in the Lubero territory of the North Kivu province on Wednesday, a provincial member of parliament, David Sikuli.
“I call on the Congolese government to allow joint operations by Congo and Uganda’s army to be expanded in all areas where the ADF are located,” Sikuli said.
There were no Congolese soldiers in the village, only local fighters known as Wazalendo, who often fight alongside Congolese security forces, he added.
Eastern Congo has struggled with armed violence for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings.
It’s unclear how many ADF fighters are present in Congo but they are a significant presence in the region and regularly attack civilians. The group originated in the late 1990s in neighbouring Uganda and became affiliated with ISIS in 2019. Muslims make up about 10 per cent of the Congolese population, most of them in the east.
In recent years, attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces have intensified near Congo’s border with Uganda and spread towards Goma, eastern Congo’s main city, as well as the neighbouring Ituri province. Rights groups and the United Nations have accused the ADF of killing hundreds of people and abducting even more, including a significant number of children.
In December, the ADF killed at least 10 people and abducted several more in another village in North Kivu.
‘237,000 people displaced in Congo’
About 237,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of 2025 in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one of the world’s largest hosts of people uprooted within their own borders, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday.
Escalating clashes between armed groups and the DRC army in North and South Kivu provinces, already home to 4.6 million internally displaced people, are intensifying one of the world’s most alarming yet under-reported humanitarian crises, UNHCR spokesperson Eujin Byun said at a press briefing.
From January 1 to 6, intense fighting in the Masisi and Lubero territories of North Kivu Province forced about 150,000 individuals to flee their homes, while 84,000 people have been displaced in South Kivu’s Fizi territory, the UN agency said, noting that civilians in both regions are enduring indiscriminate bombings.
On Wednesday, during a cabinet meeting chaired by President Felix Tshisekedi, the DRC government announced that the military had recovered several strategic localities in the eastern part of the country previously occupied by the March 23 Movement rebellion.
“The DRC Armed Forces remain determined on all front lines to restore security, recover lost areas, and restore the territorial integrity of the DRC,” government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said late Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
Last month, a peace summit to address conflicts in the DRC was called off at the last minute due to a tough negotiation standoff.
Angolan President Joao Lourenco was set to host DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in a bid to ease tensions gripping the eastern DRC by securing an agreement supposed to be signed by the three heads of state.
The summit was planned as part of the “Luanda Process,” a peace initiative launched in 2022 and endorsed by the African Union, to accelerate regional stabilization.
The eastern DRC continues to face instability due to the M23 rebel group, which has been advancing and seizing large areas of territory. The DRC government accuses neighboring Rwanda of providing military support to the M23, an allegation Kigali denies.
While denying ties to the M23, Rwanda has accused the DRC military of collaborating with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Rwandan rebel group whose members are blamed for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Ethiopia, Djibouti agree to combat anti-peace forces along border
The security institutions of Ethiopia and Djibouti have agreed to establish a joint task force to combat anti-peace forces operating along their common border area.
Ethiopia’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and the Security Documentation Service of the Republic of Djibouti signed an agreement to establish the joint task force in charge of exterminating anti-peace forces operating along their common border area, according to a press statement released by the NISS.
The agreement came after NISS Director General Redwan Hussien held a discussion with the visiting delegation from Djibouti’s Security Documentation Service, led by Director Hassen Seid, on a wide range of security matters of common concern.
Following the discussion, the parties agreed to elevate their cooperation in security, intelligence, and related fields to a higher level, the statement noted, Xinhua news agency reported.
The two sides also agreed to strengthen their cooperation to curb cross-border crimes, especially human trafficking and smuggling of weapons, as well as prevent illegal immigrants.
The NISS indicated that a discussion has also been held to address the security challenges observed in Ethiopia’s export and import trade through the port of Djibouti.
