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Suspected Militants Kill 19 in Eastern Congo Village

Reuters

   BENI, DR CONGO, - Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 19
   people in a raidon a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,
   localauthorities said.

   The attackers looted houses and started fires inKasanzi-Kithovonear
   Virunga National Park in North Kivuprovince overnight between Friday
   and Saturday, they said.

   "I don't know where to go with my two children,"villagerKahindoLembula,
   who lost four of her relatives in the attack,told Reuters by
   phone."Only God will help us."

   The head ofBulikidistrict, Kalunga Meso, and local rightsgroup CEPADHO
   blamed the assault on the Allied Democratic Forces(ADF)--an Islamist
   militant group accused of killing thousandsof people in recent years,
   mostly in remote areas.

   There was no immediate claim of responsibility and the ADFcould not be
   reached.

   The government declared martial law in North Kivu
   andneighboringIturiprovince at the beginning of May,in anattempt
   toquell a surge in violence that the military largelyattributes to the
   ADF.

   But the number of civilians killed in such attacks has onlyincreased
   since then, according to the Kivu Security Tracker,which maps unrest in
   eastern Congo.

   Earlier in August, President Felix Tshisekedi said specialforces from
   the United States would soon deploy to the east togauge the potential
   for a local anti-terrorism unit to combatIslamist violence.

   The ADF was blacklisted in March by Washington as aterrorist group. It
   has publicly aligned itself with IslamicState, which in turn has
   claimed responsibility for some of itsAttacks.

   But in a June report, U.N. experts said they had found noevidence of
   direct support from Islamic State to the ADF.

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