Credit : Reuters' X
GOMA, November 6, 2026 — At least 33 civilians were killed when Islamic State-linked Allied Democratic Forces militants attacked the village of Cantine-Aloya in North Kivu province, burning homes and other buildings and forcing residents to flee, Reuters reported.
In a post on X, Reuters said the assault destroyed homes, a health centre and other buildings. The Associated Press, Anadolu Agency and Al Jazeera likewise reported a death toll of at least 33 after an overnight attack in the Beni area of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Local accounts described attackers using guns and edged weapons before setting fire to dwellings and businesses. Survivors fled toward larger towns as smoke rose over Cantine-Aloya. Civil-society monitors in Beni have repeatedly blamed the ADF, a Uganda-origin rebel group that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, for massacres across North Kivu and Ituri.
The assault also disrupted medical care in a region fighting Ebola. Al Jazeera and Congolese outlets said patients, including people linked to the Ebola response, had to leave a local health facility when the attack hit — compounding an already fragile humanitarian picture.
Eastern Congo’s conflict involves multiple armed groups, a strained national army and regional politics that have frustrated peace efforts for decades. Civilians bear the brunt: mass killings, sexual violence and displacement have emptied villages even when front lines barely move on a map.
Congolese authorities and the UN peacekeeping mission have pledged to pursue the ADF, but previous offensives have failed to stop hit-and-run massacres. Islamic State propaganda has previously claimed ADF operations, though independent verification of each claim varies.
Humanitarian agencies warn that renewed killings around Beni drive fresh displacement into already overcrowded sites and raise risks of disease spread, including Ebola, when clinics are burned or abandoned. Burial of victims and counting of the missing often continue for days after such raids.
Life News Agency could not independently verify the precise casualty list from the scene; the 33 figure reflects Reuters’ report and matching tallies from AP and other agencies citing local civil-society and health sources.
North Kivu’s civilians have endured repeated ADF raids despite joint Congolese and regional military operations. Each massacre deepens distrust that the state can protect remote villages after nightfall.
Credit : Reuters’ X
Source: Reuters on X, with background from the Associated Press, Anadolu Agency and Al Jazeera. This report summarises the Reuters alert and independent coverage; it does not reproduce Reuters article text.
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