Rebel Attack in Northeastern DR Congo Kills 69

At least 69 people have been killed in an armed rebel attack in Ituri province, a conflict-ridden area in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to security officials.

Militants from the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) militia alliance, which claims to protect the Lendu community, carried out the assault on multiple villages on April 28, local and security sources reported.

The attack followed a previous raid by another armed group, the Convention for the Popular Revolution (CRP), which says it fights for the Hema community, targeting positions of the Congolese army (FARDC) near the town of Pimbo.

More than 70 people died when CODECO gunmen launched retaliatory strikes in late April, according to civil society leader Dieudonne Losa. Two other security sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the attacks, with one source reporting at least 69 dead, including 19 militia members and soldiers.

The presence of CODECO fighters delayed the recovery of bodies for days. “Only 25 bodies have been buried,” Losa said on Saturday, adding that some remains are still missing. A humanitarian source described bodies “lying on the ground” near the village of Bassa, one of the targeted areas.

The United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) said on April 30 it had rescued “nearly 200 people caught in the crossfire” from the CRP attack on FARDC. On Saturday, the mission “strongly condemned the recent wave of deadly attacks targeting civilians” in the unstable east.

Ente, a nonprofit representing the Hema community, described the killings as a “massacre” and urged its members to avoid retaliation. The former Belgian colony, known for its rich mineral resources including cobalt, copper, uranium, and diamonds, has long been plagued by corruption and bloodshed.

Since early 2025, Ituri has seen a resurgence of the CRP, a group founded by convicted warlord Thomas Lubanga. He was found guilty by the International Criminal Court in 2012 for recruiting children into his rebel army and was released in 2020 after completing his sentence.

Clashes among the CRP, the Congolese army, and CODECO have caused abuses and civilian deaths. The region also faces attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group founded by former Ugandan rebel fighters that has pledged allegiance to ISIL (ISIS).

Rawya Rageh, senior crisis adviser at Amnesty International, told Al Jazeera that government forces should do more to protect civilians in the area. “There are many challenges for the DR Congo authorities. Eastern DR Congo is a vast region. There are competing actors—M23, ADF, CODECO. With a group like ADF, they exploit security gaps. Most forces are stretched to respond to the M23 threat,” she said. “We expect more from security forces. Especially with the ADF confrontations, we see entire areas left without troops, diverted to other fronts, leaving civilians completely vulnerable to the ADF and other armed groups.”