KAMPALA, Uganda

At least 55 people have been killed in the past two weeks by members of the Allied Defense Forces (ADF) rebel group in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

A civil society group from Mamove locality in Beni territory and Lieut. Pecos Mboka, a security officer in Ituri province, said Monday that the victims were from villages in Ituri and North Kivu province, which share borders.

The president of the civil society group, Kinos Katuo, told Anadolu she deplores the collaboration of certain people in the community with the rebels, which makes it easy for them to commit their crimes.

“From July 31 to Aug. 14, 55 people have been killed by ADF rebels and their allies. In Batangi-Mbau in Beni territory, 19 people were killed in one night,” she said.

Katuo said the rest were killed in the villages of Mbingi, Makangwa, Mabuo, Moliso, Masia and Masenze. She called on those who facilitate the attackers to succeed in their crimes to stop collaborating with them.

Mboka confirmed the killings, saying the rebels usually attack villages where there are no soldiers, but they hunt for them whenever they get information about their attacks.

He said that although the rebels attacked some villages, their activities have generally significantly decreased in the localities where the joint Congolese army and Uganda People’s Defense Force have set up positions.

The ADF was formed in Uganda in the late 1990s with the aim of overthrowing incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, but they were overpowered and fled into the forests in eastern DR Congo, from where they attack innocent people.