Rebels armed with machetes kill at least 52 people in eastern DRC

ADF rebels armed with machetes and hoes have killed at least 52 civilians in the Beni and Lubero areas of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in recent days, UN and local officials said.

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels were taking revenge on civilians after suffering defeats by Congolese forces, Lieutenant Elongo Kyondwa Marx, a regional Congolese army spokesperson, said.

"When they arrived, they first woke the residents, gathered them in one place, tied them up with ropes, and then began to massacre them," Macaire Sivikunula, chief of Lubero's Bapere sector, told Reuters over the weekend.

About 30 civilians were killed in the village of Melia alone, Alain Kiwewe, a military administrator for the Lubero territory, told Reuters.

Women and children among victims

"Among the victims were children and women, while several houses were set on fire," he said.