ADF Militants Kill at Least 33 in Congo Village Raid as Ebola Patients Flee

Islamic State-linked militants killed at least 33 civilians in an overnight raid on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and forced patients with confirmed and suspected Ebola infections to flee a nearby hospital, Reuters reported on Friday, November 6, 2026. The Associated Press reported the same figure, at least 33 people killed, citing a local civil society group.

The raid on Cantine-Aloyath

The attackers struck Cantine-Aloyath, a village about 50 kilometres west of Beni in North Kivu province, at around 11 p.m. local time on Thursday, officials told Reuters. Fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces, a group Islamic State recognises as an affiliate, set fire to a health post during the assault and burned several houses, Beni territorial administrator Colonel Charles Omeonga told Reuters.

A total of 33 bodies were recovered after the attack, most bearing gunshot wounds, while others had been burned or hacked with machetes, Tchetche Aliamini, a local civil society leader, told Reuters. Omeonga said a death toll could not yet be established because heavy rain had hampered army operations and investigations.

Justin Paluku, head of a local civil society group, told AP the attack on Cantine was blamed on the ADF and that the fighters burned and looted homes. Anadolu Agency reported an earlier provisional toll of 24 civilians, with simultaneous attacks on several villages in Beni territory and houses and businesses set on fire as residents fled.

Ebola patients forced to flee

Patients from a nearby hospital fled during the raid, including one confirmed Ebola patient and five suspected cases, among them three high-risk contacts, the hospital head doctor, Christian Kakule Vulembera, told Reuters.

North Kivu is a hotspot of the Ebola outbreak now coursing through Congo and accounts for half of all new infections in the country, Reuters reported. Health authorities have recorded more than 10,000 cases and 5,000 deaths across Congo in the outbreak.

The toll rose through the day

The first reports on Friday morning put the toll far lower. Xinhua, citing local media and civil society sources, reported at least 10 civilians killed. Anadolu later reported a provisional toll of 24 civilians. A later Xinhua update said the toll had risen to at least 30, including civilians and security personnel, before civil society leaders reported 33 bodies recovered.

A long record of attacks in the east

The ADF is a Ugandan rebel group operating in eastern Congo and an affiliate of Islamic State in Central Africa. The group killed more than 1,000 civilians in Congo in 2025, according to a report by United Nations experts published in July, Anadolu reported.