Suspected Ugandan Rebels Kill 21 in DR Congo

Suspected Ugandan rebels hacked to death at least 21 people this week in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the local governor said Friday, giving an official figure.

"The toll from the latest carnage in Mayangose is 21 dead. The FARDC (Congolese armed forces) were able to free 17 people" taken hostage, North Kivu province governor Julien Paluku said while visiting Beni town in the far north.

A senior army officer who was at the scene on Wednesday hours after the overnight attack said that security forces had "counted 23 dead and one wounded" in the outlying suburb of Beni.

Police and other sources said the victims were slain with machetes, like more than 260 people killed in a string of attacks with long knives and farm tools in the Beni region between October and December last year.

"The assailants are none other than the ADF," Paluku declared, referring to mainly Muslim rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces and the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU), who are based inside the DRC, across the border from Uganda.

"Up until now, the FARDC is still pursuing the assailants, so fighting continues," added the governor, who said that the Ugandan rebels threaten the security of the population of Beni, a major trading town.

The slaughter on Tuesday night is the first to be reported in the region since the Congolese army on December 13 announced a joint offensive with troops of the UN mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) to put down the ADF, which has operated in the region since 1995.

This offensive enabled officials in Beni to lift an overnight curfew on January 23.

The army and MONUSCO launched assaults on the ADF in January 2014 and the Ugandan rebels were reported to have sustained heavy losses. But they have made a comeback since military operations were suspended last August.