Survivors of hacking attack recount ordeal at the hands of ADF militia

Survivors of an attack occurred this week in eastern DRC have recounted their ordeal at the hands of the ADF militia. 

On Wednesday, ADF militants killed at least forty people in two villages in North Kivu province.

Some villagers described how they had welcomed the fighters before the killing started.

“They came in a group, like visitors, we thought they were coming to greet us. They ordered us to leave the house. We wondered what the problem was, thinking that they were ordinary peasants. Then I was dragged, pushed brutally out, hit and cut in the face by a machete”, said Kabuo Tsongo, a female survivor of the attack, hospitalized in Kalunguta.

The ADF militia is aligned to the Islamic State group and ranks among the deadliest armed groups in eastern DRC. 

According to the village chief there was no shooting during the attack, instead the attackers used bladed weapons.

“Houses were burned, people were killed with machetes, set on fire, but there was no crackling of bullets”, said Deogratias Kasereka, chief of Mukondi village

Last week, the United States offered a reward of up to $5 million for information concerning ADF leader Seka Musa Baluku.

Since 2021, North Kivu and neighbouring Ituri province have been under a so-called “state of siege”.