KEY POINTS
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At least five people were killed in a night attack by ADF rebels in Katerrain, North Kivu.
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The attackers disguised themselves as local militia and used machetes during the assault.
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The incident follows a joint military operation targeting ADF positions in nearby regions.
After months of uneasy calm, violence has returned to North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as members of the Allied Democratic Forces, ADF, launched a brutal attack on the village of Katerrain on the night of July 8, 2025.
At least five civilians were killed with machetes, and several others sustained injuries in an assault that has reignited fears among locals and underscored the fragile security situation in the region.
The attack began around 9 p.m., according to civil society sources in the Beni-Mbau area. “The rebels disguised themselves as Wazalendo (local militia) before surrounding the village,” said the coordinator of Nouvel Espoir, a local civil society group. “They came from the direction of the Ituri River and quickly unleashed violence, killing five people with machetes.”
Survivors recount horror as villagers flee
A survivor’s mother narrowly escaped with her life after spotting the attackers trying to abduct her son. “She took the chance to run,” the Nouvel Espoir representative said. “The number of victims may still rise, as more people are still unaccounted for.”
This is the first major attack in Katerrain after a period of relative peace. The silence was broken by this sudden assault, triggering fears that the ADF — a militant group affiliated with Islamic State and responsible for hundreds of deaths in eastern Congo — may be repositioning in the area.
Congolese and Ugandan troops (FARDC and UPDF) arrived on the scene the following morning. Local leaders are now calling for continuous military action to track the assailants, fearing they may still be in nearby forests.
“To those still farming in the vicinity, avoid areas that are not confirmed to be secure,” the civil society coordinator warned. “Authorities must continue pursuing the killers of our friends and relatives. We believe they haven’t gone far.”
The assault on Katerrain came just days after the Congolese and Ugandan militaries launched fresh joint operations targeting ADF positions in the Babila-Bakwanza chiefdom, which borders Katerrain. Observers believe the rebels may be retaliating or relocating in response to this renewed pressure.
Though the joint operation is ongoing, local residents say more needs to be done to restore security and rebuild trust in state protection. For now, many families have fled Katerrain, seeking safety elsewhere amid fears of a repeat attack.
The ADF, originally a Ugandan rebel group, has transformed into a violent insurgency in eastern Congo, often targeting villages with machetes and arson. Their brutal methods and elusive hideouts in the dense Congolese forest have made them difficult to contain.
As survivors mourn and the dead are buried, Katerrain joins a long list of communities scarred by the shadow war in eastern DRC — a war that continues to leave families shattered, livelihoods disrupted, and peace just out of reach.
