Islamic State-backed rebels kill 17 in eastern Congo hospital attack

GOMA, Congo (AP) — An Islamic State-backed rebel group killed at least 17 people in an attack on a hospital in eastern Congo, authorities said Saturday.

The attack by the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, took place in the village of Byambwe, in the Lubero territory of North Kivu province on Friday night, Col. Alain Kiwewa, the local administrator, told The Associated Press.

“Women who were breastfeeding were brutally slaughtered and found with their throats slit in their hospital beds,” Kiwewa said, adding that 11 women and six men were killed.

The rebels also attacked other villages, said Samuel Kakule Kagheni, a civil society leader in the Manzya area, which includes Byambwe, but could not confirm the number of casualties there.

Armed groups have carried out several deadly attacks in eastern Congo, including the ADF and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The ADF, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2019, operates along the border with Uganda and often targets civilians.

In August, ADF fighters killed at least 52 people during several attacks in the same week, according to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo.

The group also killed nearly 40 people in Ituri province in July, when it stormed a Catholic church during a vigil and opened fire on worshippers, including many women and children.

The ADF was formed by disparate small groups in Uganda in the late 1990s following discontent with President Yoweri Museveni. In 2002, following Ugandan military strikes, the group moved to neighboring Congo and has been blamed for the killings of thousands of civilians.

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This story corrects the year when ADF pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.