More villagers killed in eastern DR Congo

There have been multiple reports of civilians being slain in the district of Beni in the strife-ridden province of Nord Kivu in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the most recent incidents, 50 people were killed when unknown assailants armed with machetes attacked several villages to the northeast of the city of Beni.

One resident, who asked not to be named, told DW the assailants set fire to his village, Ahili, on Saturday (06.12.2014). "Some of the dead bodies were burnt to cinders," he said. Residents of neighboring villages have fled, fearing that they would be next. "I also don't know if I will be alive tomorrow," he said.

An alliance of civil society organizations in Nord Kivu expressed shock at these attacks and declared two days of mourning starting Sunday. They said they wanted to draw the attention of the international community to the "deadly war and terrorism" in their midst. The alliance also called on the UN mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, to mount a combat operation against the culprits in conjunction with the Congolese armed forces.

ADF-NALU blamed

The killings are the latest in a string of raids which have been terrorizing Beni district since October. Civil society activists say more than 250 people have been killed. It is still unclear who is to blame for the slaughter, but many suspect the raids are the work of the Islamist group Allied Democratic Forces and National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU) and its allies. The rebel group, which is opposed to the Ugandan government of President Yoweri Museveni, withdrew to the DRC in 1995. Analysts suspect that the ADF-NALU is collaborating with other militant Islamist groups such Somalia's al-Shabab.

Martin Kobler, head of MONUSCO, strongly condemned the latest attacks saying they were intended to "perpetuate a climate of terror in the region." The UN official also backed calls for a joint military operation against the rebels.

MONUSCO has been carrying out targeted incursions against ADF-NALU since the start of the year. In March 2014 they even announced that they had defeated them; a claim that would hardly appear tenable in the wake of the recent raids. Kobler admitted as much in an interview with DW in October. "The ADF-NALU has been isolated, but there are still splinter groups in existence and any of them could carry out a massacre," he said.

Rebel identity

A lack of clarity over the rebels' identity adds to the difficulties of mounting military operations against them. DRC parliamentary deputy Claudel Lubaya, speaking on DW's French for Africa service, said it needed to be established first of all whether ADF-NALU was essentially a Congolese or a Ugandan rebel group."If they are a Ugandan group, then why do they never attack the Ugandan state, but always target Congolese institutions and in particular the Congolese population instead," he said.

It is difficult to assess the strengths and weaknesses of rebel groups in eastern DRC, even after initial success in overcoming M23, one of the more powerful groups in the region. As well as remnants of the ADF-NALU, there are also a number of other militias, many of whom originated in neighboring countries. Kobler says there are as many as 50 rebel groups in existence, often loosely referred to as the Mai Mai.

Leonard Santedi, Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops Conference in the DRC, believes it is far from clear who is responsible for the attacks. "The situation is too complicated to place immediate blame on ADF-NALU. We need a thorough analysis" he told Deutsche Welle and called on the government in Kinshasa to launch an investigation.

But in the DRC's capital, the chronic insecurity in the east is not the only item on the policy makers' agenda. Their minds are currently focused on ministerial posts. On Monday President Kabila announced he had reshuffled his cabinet. Some opposition figures were among the new appointees. Kabila was seeking to keep the promise he made last year that he would create a government of national unity. The concessions come as he weighs up the possibility of running for a third term.