At least ten civilians were hacked to death with machetes in attacks attributed to ADF militiamen in the villages of Upende and Ilange, near the town of Mbau, in North Kivu Province of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to witnesses, the first attack was carried out last Saturday in the village of Ilange where the attackers executed six farmers who were working in their fields with machetes.
The second attack took place in the nearby village of Upende where the attackers also killed four other villagers who were in their houses with machetes.
They also burnt down a residential house and looted business houses, reveals Emery Nzanzu, a human rights activist who was on site this Sunday morning with other young people to recover the bodies of the victims.
Some bodies have since been lifted from the scene of the tragedy with at least 7 bodies, including two women, deposited at the morgue of the Oicha General Hospital on Sunday morning and the toll is expected to rise as several other people do not answer the call.
This is the umpteenth attack in the area, after the one recorded at the beginning of May in the locality of Mantumbi where 15 people, including two health officials, brutally murdered by the ADF.