At least five people, including two children, were killed in an attack by “bandits” on the outskirts of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Saturday, local sources said.
The five civilians, members of two families, were shot dead in the village of Bugamba 2, said Mambo Kawaya, a regional civil society leader.
In one household, “a father, his wife, and his son” were killed, and in another house, it was “a father and his child”, said Kawaya. Four others with serious injuries have been hospitalized, he added.
“We have managed to capture three bandits and a fourth was wounded by machete by the population,” said community leader Kanane Ndyanabo, without providing details of the motive of the attacks.
Kawaya pointed to “a movement nicknamed the 40 thieves” and added “it’s not the first time” that families had been attacked this way.
Many armed men are circulating in the region, he said, including soldiers who left the areas occupied by M23 rebels and are now stationed in the territory.
The M23, backed by Rwanda according to Kinshasa and UN experts, has since last year conquered vast territories in the eastern province of North Kivu, of which Goma is the capital.
The most recent ceasefire was supposed to come into effect on March 7, but it hasn’t been respected.
North Kivu is also plagued by violence from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) — a rebel group affiliated with the so-called Islamic State accused of repeatedly killing civilians.
Government forces said Saturday that troops had killed 20 ADF “terrorists” amid a lengthy confrontation.
“Four AK47-type weapons of war were recovered” as well as “a significant quantity of war ammunition, 11 Korans, and several other items,” according to the army’s regional spokesman Captain Antony Mualushayi.
Other members of the ADF fled into the forest of Virunga National Park, where Congolese along with supporting Ugandan armed forces are pursuing them, he added.
The United States earlier this month offered a reward of up to $5 million for information concerning ADF leader Seka Musa Baluku.