Armed militants allegedly linked to an ISIL-affiliated group have carried out a brutal series of village raids in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), leaving dozens of civilians dead, according to local authorities and civil society organizations. The coordinated overnight assault targeted the village of Cantine, situated approximately 50 kilometres west of Beni in North Kivu province, where the attackers torched residential buildings and set fire to a local health post, forcing vulnerable patients to flee into the surrounding jungle.
Key Takeaways: The raid resulted in at least 33 fatalities and over 50 homes burned, while 180 hospital patients—including suspected and confirmed Ebola cases—fled the facility, raising major concerns over potential disease transmission amid an ongoing regional epidemic.
Local leaders and security administrators blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militant group with Ugandan origins that pledged allegiance to ISIL in 2019, for orchestrating the massacre. Beni territorial administrator Colonel Charles Omeonga confirmed that civilians were shot and killed during the nighttime assault. Justin Paluku, head of a local civil society group, reported that 33 bodies had been recovered so far, with victims suffering from gunshot wounds, severe burns, and machete slashes.
The violence has severely disrupted response efforts to the region's worsening health crisis, as North Kivu grapples with surging infections. Christian Kakule, medical director of the Kelekele Hospital Centre, warned that high-risk contacts and individuals under monitoring escaped during the chaos, creating a severe public health hazard. According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, thousands of Ebola-related deaths have already been documented across the DRC, compounding the suffering caused by persistent armed conflict.
Critics have condemned the apparent security vacuum, noting that despite the deployment of loyalist and international security forces, insurgents easily bypassed defensive perimeters. With roughly 100 armed factions operating in the eastern DRC—including the Rwanda-backed M23 movement—analysts warn that systemic instability will likely persist, further undermining humanitarian operations and civilian safety.
Source: www.aljazeera.com