Women on a maternity ward were among 89 civilians killed in a week-long spate of Islamist rebel attacks in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations mission in the country said on Friday (November 21, 2025).
A number of armed groups and militia are operating in the conflict-wracked region, including Rwanda-backed anti-government M23 forces, which seized swathes of territory in North and South Kivu in January and February.
North of the M23’s area of operation, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group of former Ugandan rebels which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, has been carrying out repeated massacres in both provinces.
The MONUSCO mission said in a statement that the ADF waged “particularly deadly” attacks between November 13 and 19 at several locations around the Lubero area in North Kivu.
“The attacks in the Bapere and Baswagha (chiefdoms) have resulted in the killing of 89 civilians, including at least 20 women and an as yet undetermined number of children,” it added.
In the locality of Byambwe, 60 kilometres (37 miles) west of Lubero, at least 17 civilians — among them women receiving care in the maternity ward — were killed inside a health centre operated by the Catholic Church.
“During the attack, four wards housing patients were set on fire.”
AFP reported on November 15 that at least 15 people died in the attack, while the local Red Cross said 23 lost their lives.
MONUSCO said other towns “were also affected by serious abuses, including abductions, the looting of medical supplies, the burning of homes and the destruction of property”.
Criticisms
Since 2021, the Ugandan Army has been deployed in northern North Kivu and neighbouring Ituri to fight alongside the Congolese Army.
But the rebels are avoiding armed confrontations and the joint operation has not stopped the violence.
The Congolese Army, already battling M23 fighters in the south of the Lubero region, is proving largely powerless against attacks by the ADF, which operates in small groups that can easily find refuge in the region’s dense forests.
After each attack, residents and civil society organisations criticise the Army’s slow response.
Muhindo Tafuteni, a local leader in Lubero, told AFP that there was a “reduced military presence”, “insufficient logistics” and an “absence of military officers to hunt down the killers”.
He also told AFP that roads were in an “advanced state of disrepair”, which makes patrolling difficult.
The Bapere sector of Lubero is well known for its gold deposits, which attract various local militias and criminal gangs.
The ADF has carried out several deadly attacks there since July, including one in the village of Nyoto in September that killed at least 71 people.
Published – November 21, 2025 10:56 pm IST
