DR Congo: in Ituri, “total psychosis” after new ADF attacks

Published on: 04/14/2022 – 18:28Modified on: 04/14/2022 – 18:30 More than thirty people were killed in attacks on Sunday 10 and Monday 11 April in Ituri, in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Footage shows bodies lying on the side of a road near the town of Komanda, burnt houses and hundreds of villagers fleeing insecurity. These attacks were carried out by Islamist rebels of Ugandan origin – known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) organisation. Our Observers fear that the violence will suffocate the region economically. The lifeless bodies of a dozen people were discovered on Monday April 11 on the side of a road in the village of Mangusu, five kilometers from Komanda, in the province of Ituri. Videos as well as photos, received by our editorial staff and published on social networks, reveal the horror of the scene: some of these villagers have been attacked with knives and have ropes around their waists. A man still has a machete stuck in his back. On Sunday 10 and Monday 11 April, several attacks took place not far from Komanda, on the road leading to Mambasa, in the province of Ituri, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. © FMM graphic studio According to the Kivu security barometer, a group of researchers present in the conflict zones in eastern DR Congo, at least 18 civilians were murdered on Monday April 11 in Mangusu. Nine people were also killed in the locality of Shauri Moya the old, Sunday, April 10, and four people were found dead near a bridge, according to a representative of the local Red Cross. {{ scope.counterText }} {{ scope.legend }} © {{ scope.credits }} {{ scope.counterText }} i {{ scope.legend }}© {{ scope.credits }} This series of attacks was claimed Monday, April 11 by the communication cell of the Islamic State organization (EI), as reported on Twitter Wassim Nasr, journalist at France 24 and specialist in jihadist movements. IS claims to have killed ten civilians in Mangusu as well as a soldier, and to have set fire to “shops run by Christians”. In its press release, the organization details a total of nine attacks carried out against Christians between Friday April 8 and Monday April 11 in Komanda and in several villages in Ituri as well as near Beni, in the neighboring province of North Kivu. “We saw the rebels landing on the Ituri bridge” Patrick (pseudonym), who works in the forestry sector near Komanda, witnessed the rebels’ incursion at the Ituri bridge on April 11 and saw the bodies lying there along the road to Mangusu. Monday, around 8 am, I took the road from the village where I work, towards Komanda. To reach Komanda, I have to cross the Ituri bridge. This is where I could see many displaced people coming in our direction. We heard gunshots. It was learned that rebels had attacked Mangusu [village situé derrière le pont, NDLR]. We waited and around 10 a.m., we saw the rebels disembark on the Ituri bridge. Everyone fled. We heard gunshots. Small houses were burned, to scare people, at the level of the Ituri bridge. The FARDC [Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo, NDLR] weren’t there. We turned around. The rebels sowed disorder for nearly an hour at the Ituri bridge. Then they took another road, accessible only on foot, and they disappeared into the forests. Around 2 p.m., we took the road to Komanda. That’s where we saw the bodies in Mangusu. They were simply peaceful citizens. The bodies of around ten people were discovered by local residents in the Mangusu village, on the side of a road from the Ituri bridge to Komanda, on Monday April 11, 2022. Screen capture from a video sent to the editorial staff of France 24 Observers. The shocking images have been blurred. © Observers Images broadcast by IS at the Ituri bridgePropaganda images broadcast by IS show rebels on the bridge crossing the Ituri river, on the road linking Mambasa to Komanda. It was on this road and near this bridge that our Observer Patrick was, who confirmed to our editorial staff that the images of the organization (see below) were indeed taken on the Ituri bridge and in the villages in proximity. In eastern DRC, IS formed part of its branch in Central Africa (ISCAP) thanks to the allegiance sworn to its organization in 2019 by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist armed group from Ugandan origin. Since 2014, the ADF have been committing extremely violent abuses against Congolese civilians, mainly in North Kivu. This province and that of Ituri have been placed under a state of siege since May 2021, an exceptional measure which gives full power to the military and aims to put an end to the activity of armed groups. The fight against the ADF intensified further with the launch of a joint Ugandan-Congolese military operation at the end of November 2021. But insecurity continues to reign. push them to leave their environment by force”Marc (pseudonym), who also works on the Mambasa – Komanda axis, sent to the editorial staff of the Observers of France 24 images of the devastated villages on Monday April 11. He is worried about the supply of the city of Bunia, capital of Ituri, located just over 70 km north of Komanda: Attacks are increasing in Ituri and the population is living in total psychosis . There was a bit of a lull in January and February, but it’s coming back. In the wider area around Komanda, ADF attacks have been going on since 2020 and they took place mainly on the outskirts. In Komanda itself, the attacks really began between September and December 2021. The rise in power of these attacks seems to be linked to military operations to repel them from Beni (North Kivu). The ADF therefore seem to be pouring in here, in Ituri. We do not yet see the effectiveness of the pooling between the two armies, Congolese and Ugandan. In the Komanda area, only the FARDC are operating.”The population of the fields is moving and the villagers can no longer work”In November and December, the attacks hit the Beni-Komanda axis and the population emptied this zone. However, it was an important axis for supplying the town of Bunia with rural and forest products such as firewood and charcoal. The Mambasa-Komanda road then became Bunia’s main supply axis. But after the latest attacks, the population of the fields is moving and the villagers can no longer devote themselves to their rural activities. Perhaps the ADF want to cut off the town of Bunia from its supply routes? What I understand from these attacks is the politics of invasion: scaring the natives and pushing them to leave their environment by force. Many families left the villages near the Ituri bridge on Monday 11 April to head further west towards Mambasa. Photo sent by an Observer and published with authorization. © Observers The ADF, which emerged in Uganda in 1995, is now considered the deadliest armed group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Since 2019, some of their attacks have been claimed by IS, and the ADF regularly renew, with supporting video, their allegiance to the organization. In March, 52 people had already been killed in attacks attributed to the ADF against several villages in Ituri. On December 25, 2021, in Beni, North Kivu, a suicide bomber detonated his bomb in a restaurant where more than thirty people were celebrating Christmas, six died.>> READ ON THE OBSERVERS: DR Congo: news attack in Beni, where the inhabitants live “fear in the stomach” The assessment of all the attacks of this group, which generally operates in inaccessible areas and dense forests, is however difficult to obtain. According to the United Nations human rights office, between January 2019 and June 2020, 1,066 civilians were killed in North Kivu and Ituri. The Congolese episcopate estimates that at least 6,000 people have been killed since 2013.>> READ ON THE OBSERVERS: After an attack near Beni is claimed, what do we know about the Islamic State group in DR Congo?