An Islamic State-linked terrorist group has killed almost 200 people in numerous attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this year, the UN said in a statement on Friday.
Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) insurgents also wounded dozens of others and displaced some 40,000 people in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
This was in addition to 100,000 displaced people who were already living in the region, the statement said.
The UNHCR said it was alarmed by the rise in attacks since January, which left the displaced with little protection and little access to food, water or medicine, particularly in the context of the current coronavirus and Ebola outbreaks in the region.
“The ADF terrorists have killed people, set homes on fire and kidnapped residents in attacks on 25 villages and towns since January, often in search for food and medicine.
“They also kill in revenge for residents allegedly disclosing rebel positions to the military,” the UNHCR spokesman, Babar Baloch, said.
The ADF is one of more than 100 rebel groups active in Congo’s east, with many of them fighting over the country’s precious natural resources.