In the early hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning, the town of Oicha in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was thrown into chaos as militants linked to the Islamic State carried out a brutal attack that left at least nine people dead. Local sources, including civil society leaders and military officials, have confirmed that the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militia group with roots in neighboring Uganda, targeted civilians, looted shops, and set homes ablaze in a wave of terror that has left the community reeling.
The violence in Oicha, which unfolded overnight from August 17 to August 18, 2025, is just the latest in a series of bloody assaults attributed to the ADF in the region. According to Isaac Kavalami, president of a local civil group, the attack claimed the lives of eight civilians and one police officer. An AFP reporter who visited the Oicha General Hospital’s morgue on Sunday counted nine bodies, some bearing the grisly marks of stab wounds—a chilling testament to the brutality of the assault.
Lieutenant Marc Elongo, spokesman for the Congolese army in the area, placed the blame squarely on the ADF. He described the perpetrators as "ADF terrorists" seeking revenge on local civilians in retaliation for ongoing military operations against them. "The ADF were taking revenge on local civilians in retaliation for ongoing military operations in the area," Elongo explained, as reported by AFP.
What makes this attack even more harrowing for Oicha’s residents is that it was not entirely unforeseen. Kavalami revealed that civil society representatives had previously alerted security forces about the threat of such attacks. Despite these warnings, no protective measures were put in place. "Civil society representatives had warned security forces about potential attacks beforehand without receiving protection measures," Kavalami told AFP, highlighting a sense of abandonment that many locals now feel.
The ADF’s reign of terror is not confined to Oicha alone. Just days earlier, in the village of Bapere in North Kivu province, suspected Islamist rebels believed to be aligned with the same group killed at least 30 people in a series of attacks that spanned from Wednesday, August 13, to Friday, August 15, 2025. According to Col. Alain Kiwawa, the military administrator of Lubero territory, "We have more than 30 people dead, and at least a hundred who are being held hostage." The violence in Bapere was marked by the same brutality seen in Oicha—several houses were burned, and most victims were killed with knives, as confirmed by Samuel Kaheni, president of the Bapere civil society organization.
These attacks are part of a disturbing pattern. Last month, nearly 40 worshippers were killed in an attack on a Catholic church in Ituri province, an atrocity also attributed to the ADF. The group, which began as a mainly Muslim Ugandan militia in the 1990s, has since entrenched itself in the border regions between Uganda and Congo. In 2019, the ADF pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, a move that has only intensified its campaign of violence against civilians in eastern Congo.
Despite the deployment of joint Ugandan and Congolese military operations aimed at rooting out the ADF, the group’s attacks have not only persisted but, by many accounts, have increased in frequency and ferocity in recent months. The ongoing military pressure appears to have provoked a cycle of retaliatory violence, with the ADF lashing out at local communities perceived to be cooperating with government forces.
The security situation in eastern Congo is further complicated by the presence of dozens of other armed groups vying for control, as well as the government’s ongoing struggle against the M23 rebels, who have seized Goma and other key cities in the region. The patchwork of alliances and enmities has created a volatile environment in which civilians are often caught in the crossfire, with little recourse to protection or justice.
For residents of affected towns like Oicha and Bapere, the sense of vulnerability is palpable. Col. Kiwawa, the military administrator for Lubero, has called on the population to remain vigilant. "I ask the population to speak out and remain vigilant," he urged, according to the Associated Press. Yet for many, vigilance alone feels woefully inadequate in the face of such relentless violence.
The ADF’s tactics are as ruthless as they are calculated. Looting shops and burning homes not only inflict immediate suffering but also undermine the social and economic fabric of these communities. The use of knives and machetes to kill victims, as reported by both AFP and AP, adds a particularly gruesome dimension to the attacks, instilling fear and trauma that linger long after the initial violence has subsided.
The group’s ability to evade large-scale military operations and continue mounting deadly assaults has frustrated both local and international efforts to restore peace in the region. According to Reuters and AFP, the ADF has killed thousands of civilians since its emergence, despite repeated offensives by Ugandan and Congolese forces. The group’s resilience is a stark reminder of the challenges facing the DRC as it grapples with one of the world’s most complex and enduring conflicts.
Meanwhile, the central government in Kinshasa is stretched thin, its attention divided between multiple security crises. The M23 rebellion, which has seen key urban centers fall under rebel control, diverts resources and focus away from the fight against the ADF and other militias. For ordinary Congolese living in North Kivu and Ituri, this means continued instability and the ever-present threat of violence.
As the international community watches, humanitarian organizations warn that the cycle of attacks, displacement, and trauma is fueling a crisis that extends far beyond the immediate victims. With hundreds reportedly held hostage by the ADF in Bapere and countless others displaced by the destruction of their homes, the need for coordinated action has never been more urgent.
Yet amid the sorrow and frustration, the voices of local leaders like Isaac Kavalami and Samuel Kaheni serve as a reminder of the resilience and determination of Congo’s civil society. Their calls for protection, vigilance, and accountability echo through the halls of Oicha’s hospital and the burned-out remains of Bapere’s homes, demanding that the world not look away.
As eastern Congo continues to endure the twin scourges of militia violence and political instability, the courage of those who speak out and the persistence of communities under siege offer a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak landscape.
