Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed 16 people, wounded seven others, and torched cars during a nighttime raid in the east.
Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed 16 people, wounded seven others, and torched cars during a nighttime raid in the volatile east, the Red Cross and locals said Monday.
The attack occurred on Sunday evening in Bulongo in North Kivu province, according to village youth president Andika Mihekto, who blamed the notorious Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group.
"They torched five vehicles and the people inside were burned to a crisp," he said, adding that the violence lasted until the early hours of Monday morning.
Sahani Kambale, the head of the Bulongo Red Cross branch, said the humanitarian group discovered 16 bodies after the attack. Seven people were also wounded.
One of those killed was a Red Cross worker, who was shot as he was trying to flee, according to the organization's local secretary, Albert Ndungo.
The latest attack is the fourth in Bulongo blamed on the ADF since 2020.
Described by the Islamic State group as its local affiliate, the ADF has been accused of killing thousands of civilians in DRC's troubled east.
ADF rebels also killed 27 civilians in attack elsewhere in North Kivu on Saturday, according to the army and others.
Since May last year, Congolese security forces have run the administrations of North Kivu and neighboring Ituri in a bid to crush the myriad rebel groups active there.
Civilian massacres have continued, however.
