In eastern Congo, two attacks happened in neighboring villages that killed around 20 people. Christophe Munyandero, a local group's coordinator of the Convention for the Respect of Human Rights, said that the attack occurred in the village of Kandoyi on July 1, late in the evening, and in the village of Bandiboli the following morning.

Munyanderu said that the perpetrators were believed to be members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The group is considered the “deadliest group” operating in the area. Ugandan authorities say the group was behind suicide bombings in Kampala in November 2021.

ADF is an Islamist rebel group in a region that is majority populated with Christians. The group has proclaimed allegiance with ISIS and, just last April, renewed that pledge to Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, the new IS leader.

According to the Kivu Security Tracker, a Congo Research Group joint project, the group has been involved in many massacres in the city of Beni since 2013. The group killed 1,051 last year, according to their data.

In the recent killing, Alice Kyanga, whose parents were among the victims, said they had their throats cut. “It’s too hard for me,” she said. Some of the residents were still alive when their homes were set on fire.

Jules Ngongo, the Congolese army spokesperson in Ituri, said forces were in pursuit.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the ADF released a manifesto in 1997 declaring the aim of overthrowing the Ugandan government. Islamism has been a component of the group from inception, but broader claims of its goals have been vague, earning them the label “rebellion without a cause.”