The administrator of the Lubero territory, Colonel Alain Kiwewa, said that the attack was carried out on Wednesday in the town of Maikengo and added that the "terrorists" also set fire to several houses.
"The armed forces have been on site since Wednesday afternoon to guarantee the security of the village and its surroundings," he added, reports the Europa Press news agency.
Speaking to the Congolese radio station Radio Okapi, the official also said that an undetermined number of inhabitants fled Maikengo to the towns of Magurejipa and Ndjiapanda in search of safety. Some of the fleeing inhabitants moved further away, to Butembo.
For his part, provincial deputy Bogombi Faisi Enoch, former local chief of Bapakombe, said that the assailants invaded the town in the middle of market day, while the chief of the Bapere sector, Macaire Sivikunula, stated that the Congolese army had launched an operation in the area, according to the Congolese news portal Actualité.
With this attack, the number of deaths at the hands of the ADF in the last two weeks rises to more than 100, according to civil society, which last week denounced the murder of 79 civilians in the Beni region.
However, authorities lowered the death toll to 41 and said they had launched an operation against the group.
The ADF was created in the 1990s in Uganda and is particularly active in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where it has been accused of killing hundreds of civilians.
The objective would be to return to Uganda, where they left in 2003 after several military operations that reduced their capabilities.
The group split in 2019 after its leader, Musa Baluku - sanctioned by the United Nations and the United States - swore allegiance to the Islamic State in Central Africa, under whose flag it has operated ever since.
DRCongo and Uganda signed a defense agreement in December 2021 to carry out joint operations in eastern Congolese territory.
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