Militants from a shadowy extremist organisation with ties to the Islamic State Group killed at least 14 farmers in Congo's hard-hit eastern region, a local official said on Saturday.
The Allied Democratic Forces attacked Mamove village in North Kivu province on Friday night where they beheaded the farmers working on their fields, said Samson Simara, a delegate of the provincial governor.
“This death toll could rise because other farmers are missing,” he told local media, adding that the militants also burned down several houses in the village.
Armed violence in eastern Congo has been simmering for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities, but it spiked in late 2021 when another rebel group, that goes by M23 and had been largely dormant, resurfaced and initiated attacks to seize land.