Suspected Ugandan rebels kill 7 people in DR Congo

By Godfrey Olukya

ARU, Democratic Republic of the Congo

At least 7 people were killed and 12 homes were set ablaze Thursday morning by suspected ADF rebels in a village located in the north eastern part of DR Congo.

According to a senior police officer of Beni city, Ambrose Mboki, the attackers are suspected ADF rebels who for some years have been attacking villages neighboring the forests where they have bases.

Mboki said the suspected rebels shot dead those who tried to escape and killed others who couldn’t flee with machetes.

''By the time police and army, which are based a few kilometers away, learnt about the attack, the suspected rebels had already killed people and burnt their houses,'' Mboki said.

''They looted food and other items.''

Mboki said that hundreds of people are currently fleeing from Kasinga village and neighboring villages to Beni city about 6 miles away, carrying a few items on their heads.

ADF members are Ugandan rebels who started a rebellion against the government of Uganda in late 1990s.They attacked schools and killed students in addition to burning down homes and abducting young men who they recruited to their force.

However, the Ugandan army fought them for about two years and they fled into Democratic republic of Congo jungles, where they come from once in a while to attack villages.

Although their leader Jamil Mukulu was arrested in Tanzania over a year ago and is being held in Ugandan prison at Luzira, ADF rebels are still a force to reckon with.

Democratic republic of Congo army (FARDC) soldiers have reportedly already been deployed in the attacked village but it has not stopped villagers from fleeing.