BENI, DR Congo, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Armed assailants suspected to be members of the Ugandan rebel group, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), on Monday night killed eight civilians during an attack in Mukoko and Tenambo villages in Beni, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).
A source from the UN Mission for Stabilization of Congo (MONUSCO) told Xinhua Tuesday that the mission was informed of the attack, but did not divulge further details.
"Our services are in the process of collecting maximum information and in the coming hours or days, we shall be able to give a definite death toll," MONUSCO's public information director Charles Bambara told Xinhua.
The civil society groups in the region attributed the attack to ADF.
"The mode of operation remains the same because almost all the victims were killed by machete, hence confirming the presence of ADF," said Fabrice Mupili, a civil society member in Beni.
DR Congo Armed Forces (FARDC) confirmed the attack on the two villages, but did not give any further information.
Omar Kavota, the coordinator of the Center for Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights told Xinhua on Tuesday that some civilians had died following ADF attacks against FARDC positions in Mukoko village.
In Tenambo village, ADF fighters killed some civilians using machete, he said, adding that "the insecurity had forced many families to flee from their villages."
According to civil society groups in North Kivu province, since October 2014, some 400 people have been killed by ADF rebels in Beni region.
