At Least 22 Killed in Ituri Village Attack Blamed on ADF

Overview

• A local rights group put the toll at 25, reporting 15 victims burned inside a house and seven shot in Apakolu, with three more killed in the Walese Vonkutu area.
• The assault struck Apakolu in Irumu territory around 4 a.m. local time, roughly 25 kilometers northwest of Eringeti, according to the U.N. report.
• The U.N. document noted an unknown number of abductees from Apakolu, and there was no immediate statement from the ADF regarding the incident.
• Two days earlier, ADF fighters attacked nearby Kazaraho, a strike for which Islamic State issued a claim of responsibility and said it abducted and killed three Christians.
• In a separate weekend raid in North Kivu’s Lubero territory, local officials said ADF militants burned homes, a health center and part of a Catholic church, with two Congolese soldiers killed during the army’s response; U.N. data last week tallied 138 ADF-attributed killings in November.