Otomabere attack

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Otomabere attack
Part of Allied Democratic Forces insurgency, Kivu conflict
LocationBwanasura, Otomabere, Irumu Territory, Nord-Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
DateJune 5, 2022
Deaths36 (per Red Cross) [1]
PerpetratorAQMI Flag asymmetric.svg Allied Democratic Forces (alleged by locals and Congolese government)

On the night on June 5, 2022, militants from Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked the village of Bwanasura, in Otomabere, North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The attack killed over twenty civilians, marking one of the deadliest attacks by the ADF in 2022. [2]

Contents

Background

The Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, are a jihadist militant group from Uganda that moved to the forests of the DRC's North Kivu region in the late 1990s, launching a brutal insurgency. [3] In 2019, the group allied with the Islamic State, in particular the Central African branch. [4] Since then, attacks on civilians by the ADF have increased throughout the 2020s, with attacks in the weeks prior to the Otomabere attack killing at least 43 people. [5] [6]

Attack

The attack began on the night of June 5, 2022, in the village of Bwanasura near Otomabere. [7] The ADF arrived at around 8 pm local time, "operating quietly" according to the local head of the Red Cross. [6] Local survivors stated that the ADF fired gunshots, causing everyone to flee the area. [2] In the attack, ADF fighters burned down at least 30 houses. [8] Thirteen civilian motorcycles were destroyed in the attack. [9] At some point in the night, the ADF fighters fled.

Aftermath

The initial death toll after the attacks was eighteen, following the return of residents counting the bodies the next morning. [10] Many of the dead were stabbed or shot to death. [2] Later that day, the head of the local group Convention for the Respect of Human Rights stated the provisional death toll was 20. [11]

The Red Cross stated that 36 bodies were found in the forests near Bwanasura in the following days. [12] An official in Irumu territory stated that the victims were from several villages around Otomabere, including three from Mayimoya, four from Eringeti, and an unknown number of others from Oicha, the capital of Beni Territory. [13]

In response to the attack, the Congolese army claimed they were "in pursuit of the assailants." [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allied Democratic Forces</span> Ugandan rebel group

The Allied Democratic Forces is an Islamist rebel group in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), considered a terrorist organisation by the Ugandan government. It was originally based in western Uganda but has expanded into the neighbouring DRC. Most Ugandan ADF fighters are Muslims from the Baganda and Basoga ethnic groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo</span> City in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Beni is a city in north eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, lying immediately west of the Virunga National Park and the Rwenzori Mountains, on the edge of the Ituri Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kivu conflict</span> Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including neighboring Ituri province, there are more than 120 different armed groups active in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently, some of the most active rebel groups include the Allied Democratic Forces, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, the March 23 Movement, and many local Mai Mai militias. In addition to rebel groups and the governmental FARDC troops, a number of national and international organizations have intervened militarily in the conflict, including the United Nations force known as MONUSCO, and an East African Community regional force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allied Democratic Forces insurgency</span> Islamist insurgency in the DR Congo and Uganda

The Allied Democratic Forces insurgency is an ongoing conflict waged by the Allied Democratic Forces in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, against the governments of those two countries and the MONUSCO. The insurgency began in 1996, intensifying in 2013, resulting in hundreds of deaths. The ADF is known to currently control a number of hidden camps which are home to about 2,000 people; in these camps, the ADF operates as a proto-state with "an internal security service, a prison, health clinics, and an orphanage" as well as schools for boys and girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lubero</span> Place in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Lubero is a town in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the administrative center of the Lubero Territory. Following the surrender of the Mai-Mai fighters in 2021, construction of a new market began in 2022, involving the mayor, ex-soldiers, "young people at risk and the vulnerable women". As of March 2014, the population of Lubero is not publicly known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beni massacre</span> 2016 massacre in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo

On 14 August 2016, multiple assailants raided the district of Rwangoma in the city of Beni which is located in North Kivu of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The city is located in the popular Virunga National Park. At least 64 people were killed, as 64 bodies had been located during the search. Officials estimate the death toll to be from 75 to 101. An unknown number of people were injured. The Ugandan rebel group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) were suspected to be behind to attack by the DRC. The incident is another in a series of massacres in Beni that have left over 700 people dead since October 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Semuliki attack</span>

The 2017 Semuliki attack was an attack carried out by elements of the Allied Democratic Forces on a United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) operating base in the Beni Territory, North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on December 7, 2017. The attack was highly coordinated and resulted in the deaths of fifteen U.N. peacekeeping personnel and wounds to 53 others making it the deadliest incident for the U.N. since the deaths of twenty-four Pakistani peacekeepers in an ambush in Somalia in 1993. The attack was among many of the latest flare-ups in violence in the North Kivu region which borders Uganda and Rwanda and one of the ADF's deadliest attacks in recent history. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres labeled the attack, "the worst attack on UN peacekeepers in the organization's recent history."

The 2020 Democratic Republic of the Congo attacks were a series of attacks which took place in 2020. The attacks were mostly carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a radical Islamist rebel group and the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO), an agricultural and religious group made up of ethnic Lendu people. The attacks left at least 1,316 people dead and 132 injured.

Events in the year 2021 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Attacks were carried out by various armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2021 and 2022. The attacks have killed 629 and injured 321. At least 82 perpetrators were also killed and one injured in these attacks.

Events in the year 2021 in the Republic of the Congo.

Events of the year 2022 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Between August 5 and 7, 2022, suspected ADF forces attacked the villages of Kandoyi and Bandiboli, in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. During the attacks, ADF militiamen burned down houses and attacked residents, killing 10 people in Kandoyi and 5 others in Bandiboli. Fighting between Congolese forces, Mai-Mai, and other rebel groups occurred in the area at the time.

On 15 January 2023, a bomb exploded during a Sunday service in a Pentecostal church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It happened in Kasindi, which is in North Kivu and is close to the Ugandan border. At least 17 people were killed and 39 more were injured by the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State. Authorities blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan Islamist group whose insurgency began in 1996 and spread to the DRC; the group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. A Kenyan was arrested at the scene.

Events of the year 2023 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

On 22 January 2023 in Makugwe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Islamists killed about 20 people.

During 8–9 March 2023, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) carried out a massacre in the village of Mukondi in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Between August 25 and 30, 2022, fighters of the Allied Democratic Forces attacked six villages in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing over fifty-four people.

Between the night of April 3–4, 2022, Allied Democratic Forces jihadists attacked the village of Masambo, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 21 people.

On December 13, 2022, fighting broke out between the Uganda People's Defence Force and the Allied Democratic Forces in Ntoroko District, in western Uganda.

References

  1. ↑
  2. 1 2 3 "Over 18 people dead in rebel attack in eastern DR Congo". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  3. ↑ "Increasingly Brutal Attacks On Civilians By Islamist Rebels Take Toll On Mental Health In DR Congo - Health Policy Watch". 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  4. ↑ "ADF renews pledge of allegiance to new Islamic State leader | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org. 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  5. ↑ "Country Reports on Terrorism 2019: Democratic Republic of the Congo". United States Department of State Bureau of Counterterrorism. 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  6. 1 2 AfricaNews (2022-06-06). "At least 20 dead in new DR Congo massacre". Africanews. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  7. ↑ AFP, Staff Writer With (2022-06-07). "At Least 20 Dead in New DR Congo Massacre". The Defense Post. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  8. ↑ "DRC: At least 16 people were killed in a militant attack in Ituri Province June 5". DRC: At least 16 people were killed in a militant attack in Ituri Province June 5 | Crisis24. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  9. ↑ "Civilians killed in rebel attack in eastern DRC - Vatican News". www.vaticannews.va. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  10. ↑ "Suspected Islamists kill at least 18 in east Congo attack". euronews. 2022-06-07. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  11. ↑ "Suspected Islamists kill at least 18 in east Congo attack". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2022-06-06. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  12. 1 2 "Deadly DRC Encounters". VOA. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  13. ↑ "14 civilians killed in suspected ADF attack in Dem. Rep. of Congo". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
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