Suspected ADF rebels have killed at least 20 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to sources who spoke to AFP on Thursday.

AFP reported on Thursday that suspected ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) rebels have killed 20 civilians in the northeastern Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), according to local sources.

The victims were taken hostage on Tuesday during an ADF raid in Babila Babombi, a locality within the Mambasa territory, which is frequently targeted by the ADF and other militia groups, police administrator Matadi Muyapandi informed AFP.

The reported casualties include 16 men and four women, with four individuals who managed to escape being hospitalized. The victims were reportedly decapitated, a method consistent with the ADF’s previous attacks. The ADF, originally an insurgent group from Uganda, has established a strong presence over the past three decades in eastern DR Congo, where they have killed thousands of civilians.

Recent months have seen a surge in such attacks. According to Rams Malikidogo, a human rights defender in Mambasa, the victims were captured during several assaults on neighboring villages and then assembled in the forest for execution. The victims included gold miners, traders, and farmers, as described by a local aid worker who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

The killings occurred in a remote area, and there is a pressing need for military intervention to recover and properly bury the bodies, the aid worker emphasized.

The ADF has been implicated in massacring Congolese civilians as well as launching attacks in neighboring Uganda. Since late 2021, joint operations by the Congolese and Ugandan armies have aimed to combat the ADF in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. However, these efforts have so far failed to prevent the ongoing attacks on civilians. Some experts suggest that these operations have merely driven the rebels into harder-to-reach areas, where they continue to target civilians.