According to UN data, 55 people were killed by the ADF in eastern Congolese between Sunday and Monday. Which gives a toll of 85 dead in one week, a sad record.
Two attacks on villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) left at least 55 dead. The United Nations announced the news on Monday. The results stick to the announcement of the Kivu Security Barometer (KST). Authorities accused members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) of the nightly massacre.
Several civilians were also kidnapped according to UNHCR. The attack took place in the villages of Tchabi and in the Boga camp. The two villages are on the border between Uganda and DRC. The Ugandan and Congolese armies (FARDC) are engaged in a military operation in the border region. It started in North Kivu and Ituri, in the North. However, the cornered ADF militiamen crossed the tidal zone towards South Kivu and the mountains towards Uganda.
The ADF, mostly of Ugandan origin, have controlled northeastern DRC for years. However, they are familiar with western Uganda as well. Several ADF lieutenants come from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and other insurgent groups in the region. Central African mercenaries and former Congolese soldiers also figure in the ranks of the ADF.
From the state of siege decreed by the President of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, the FARDC have taken over the strategic camp of the ADF leader. Indeed, Musa Baluku spent months at Camp Kajuju. However, Baluku is still a fugitive.
The death toll from last night's attacks has risen to at least 50 civilians killed (still provisional): 28 in #Boga and 22 in #Tchabi. This is the highest death toll ever recorded by KST in a single day #DRC #Irumu #Ituri https://t.co/ugKqflVTiw
- Kivu security barometer (@KivuSecurity) May 31, 2021
The failures of the FARDC, from Kivu to Beni
He's by mutual agreement to attribute the killings of civilians in eastern DRC to the ADF. Nevertheless, several militias and terrorist groups are present in the vast region. It does not prevent that since the start of the FARDC operation, the government only announced the liquidation of 7 armed men. Knowing that the FARDC deployed number up to 25 soldiers, supported by hundreds of elite Ugandan soldiers, as well as thousands of MONUSCO peacekeepers, the operation has so far been a bitter failure.
Officially, the ADF has only 1200 armed men. The other militias in the region combined have some 2000 members according to the UN. So it seems strange that with so many soldiers and armed groups, there is only civilians who fall under the bullets since more than a month.
In addition, this week would have counted more civilians dead in the region than any month since August 2017. The current operation has gone so far as to replace regional governments with military. However, this is not the first during the tenure of current President Félix Tshisekedi. In June 2019, the FARDC stormed Ituri. Operation "Zaruba ya Ituri" only killed 66 civilians, 2 losses among the FARDC and 4 deaths among the Lendu militias.
In October 2019, a large search operation targeted the ADF in Beni and its surroundings, further south. In addition to about fifty dead civilians, falling to the ADF according to the FARDC, no "terrorist" was apprehended or killed.
And after this bloody week, especially on Sunday night to Monday, it would be legitimate to ask the question. What are the FARDC and their allies doing? Can more than 35 trained soldiers not engage a few hundred militiamen?
Are our @FARDC_ still failing? I can't understand with all the military logistics we have but our law enforcement agencies are still unable to show us the right results. What is wrong with @FARDC ?
— Alliance M. (@alliancemas2) May 29, 2021