“Make ready for them all that you can of force and of warhorses, so that by them you may strike terror in the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others beside them whom you do not know.” (Qur’an 8:60)

“Suspected Islamists kill at least 12 in eastern Congo attacks on villages,” by Erikas Mwisi Kambale, Reuters, January 25, 2022:

KINSHASA (Reuters) – Suspected Islamist militants have killed at least 12 civilians and burned houses and motorbikes during raids on two villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, two local human rights groups said on Wednesday.

Fighters believed to be from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan militia active in eastern Congo since the 1990s, attacked the villages of Mutuheyi and Mapendo in Ituri province on Sunday night, the activists said.

Since launching a joint military operation against the ADF in November, Congo and Uganda claim to have captured several of the ADF’s jungle camps, but the militia’s attacks on civilians have not stopped.

Christophe Munyanderu, head of a local rights group, said the attackers came from bases in nearby North Kivu province and killed the 13 people, burned four motorbikes and torched six houses.

Patrick Musubao, president of another rights group, said 12 people had been killed. He said the victims were shot or butchered with bladed weapons….

No group has taken responsibility for the killings. The ADF does not have a spokesperson and does not usually comment on its operations.

The ADF pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in mid-2019. Islamic State has in turn claimed responsibility for some of the ADF’s violence, including bombings in Uganda and Congo late last year.

United Nations researchers, however, have found no evidence of IS command and control over the group’s operations.