In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an overnight raid on the village of Cantine in North Kivu left at least 33 civilians dead and more than 50 houses ablaze. According to local officials and civil‑society leaders, the attackers were linked to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist group that pledged allegiance to ISIL in 2019.
Colonel Charles Omeonga, the Beni territorial administrator, told Reuters that fighters had set fire to a health post and murdered residents during their assault. The raid also drove 180 patients—many with suspected or confirmed Ebola infection—out of the local health centre, heightening fears of a new disease outbreak in the region already grappling with the fastest‑spreading Ebola crisis.
Justin Paluku, head of a local civil‑society group, said,
“So far, we have counted 33 bodies and more than 50 houses set on fire, along with various other forms of material destruction.”
Paluku added that many of the victims had suffered gunshot wounds, while others were burned or hit with machetes, as corroborated by Tchetche Aliamini, another civil‑society leader who confirmed the death toll to Reuters.
Christian Kakule, the medical director of Kelekele Hospital Centre in Cantine, warned that the forced exodus of high‑risk contacts could spark a new chain of transmission. He said, “High‑risk contacts and other individuals under monitoring have all fled. Our concern is that when probable cases end up out in the open like this, they can become a source of transmission and trigger an outbreak of the disease.”
North Kivu currently accounts for almost half of all new infections in the DRC’s Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, and the province remains the second hardest hit after the epicentre province of Ituri. The attack has drawn condemnation from local authorities and civil‑society groups, but independent verification of the exact circumstances and the attackers’ identities is pending. The emergency situation in Cantine remains fluid, with authorities urging residents to seek medical care and report any contacts with the survivors of the raid.
