Suspected members of an extremist militia have killed 16 people who were returning from a weekly market in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to the local and medical sources on Friday, the attack occurred on a highway between the towns of Maimoya and Chani-chani, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Beni in North Kivu province.
Oicha Hospital Head, Jerome Munyambethe disclosed that the dead from the ambush on Thursday evening included six women and a child, all of whom were shot.
“We have seven bodies in the hospital morgue, another nine wounded were being treated at the hospital” town mayor Nicolas Kikuku said.
The Oicha region is a hotbed of attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the deadliest of scores of armed militias roaming the mineral-rich eastern DRC.
In March, the United States said the ADF, historically a Ugandan extremist group that has holed up in the region since 1995, was linked to the Islamic State terrorist group.
North Kivu and the neighboring province of Ituri have been placed under a state of siege since May 6 to fight various armed groups which terrorize civilians.
President Felix Tshisekedi replaced senior civilian officials there with army and police officers.
Despite government efforts to drastically reduce the insecurity in the area, residents have complained that the new measures had failed to curb the attacks.