“In our villages, it is no longer water that flows, it is blood,” said Omba Hemedi, a young leader from Mambasa. “They kill us like animals, almost every day, under the brutality of the ADF. Our lands are no longer places of life; they are now open‑air cemeteries. Yesterday, we were mourning in Biakato. Today, we are collecting bodies in Makumo. And tomorrow, where will it be? We are overwhelmed.”

According to several local sources, the attackers entered Makumo around 7.30 p.m. A provisional toll indicates at least nine civilians killed with machetes, several houses burned, and a population forced to flee in the middle of the night. The bodies of the victims were reportedly taken to a local health facility, while the military authorities have not yet officially commented on this new tragedy.

This latest attack comes amid an already extremely tense security situation that began earlier this month, when several villages, including Katerrain, Mangambo, Ndalya, and Ikaya, were attacked. On May 7, the ADF conducted a daytime incursion in Biakato. The death toll, initially estimated at around 10, later rose to more than 20 civilians, according to local authorities.

“The ADF came during the day,” authorities stated. “Residents thought they were members of the national army until they found themselves surrounded, making escape almost impossible. Twenty-six people were killed, and many others kidnapped.”

For several local observers, the Makumo attack reflects a new ADF strategy in the area: multiplying lightning incursions on commercial centers and densely populated localities to trigger mass displacement and maintain a permanent climate of fear among civilians.

The Ituri provincial parliamentarian Gilbert Sivamwenda denounced the lack of security vigilance, despite repeated alerts about the presence of rebels around Makumo before the attack.

“Despite the warnings given to the authorities to secure this community, which has been under threat since the Biakato attack, this is what has happened,” the provincial representative said. “The population has been completely abandoned.”

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