The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) announced on Friday that Islamist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels killed 89 civilians in several attacks over the course of a week in the east of the country.
Eastern DRC has been plagued by violence for 30 years, with numerous armed groups and militias operating there.
Between January and February, the Rwandan-backed anti-government group M23 seized large swathes of territory in North and South Kivu.
In the north, where M23 is active, the ADF, an armed group comprised of former Ugandan rebels that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS), has been carrying out frequent massacres in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
The UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MINUSCA) said the ADF launched "extremely bloody" attacks between November 13 and 19 in several areas of Lubero territory, located in the northern part of North Kivu province.
The mission confirmed in a statement that "the death toll from the attacks in the Baberi area and the town of Pasuaga," administrative divisions located in the Lubero region, reached "89 civilians, including at least 20 women and an unspecified number of children."
This group killed at least 17 civilians, "including women in the maternity ward," at a Catholic Church health center in Biambeau, and burned "four wards housing patients," according to the UN mission.
According to an AFP tally on November 15, the attack resulted in at least 18 deaths.
The local Red Cross reported a death toll of 23.
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