Fighters linked to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) raided a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo overnight, killing at least 33 civilians and forcing patients with Ebola to flee a health facility, officials said on Friday. The attack struck Cantine-Aloyath, about 50 kilometres west of Beni in North Kivu province, at around 11 p.m. local time on Thursday.

According to Reuters, the attackers set fire to a health post and several houses during the assault. The head doctor at the nearby hospital, Christian Kakule Vulembera, said patients fled the facility, including one confirmed Ebola patient and five suspected cases, among them three high-risk contacts. The Associated Press reported that around 180 patients fled the local hospital as the violence spread.

Death toll may still rise

Beni territorial administrator Colonel Charles Omeonga told Reuters that 33 bodies had been recovered, most bearing gunshot wounds, while others had been burned or attacked with machetes. He said the toll could not yet be confirmed because heavy rain was hampering army operations and investigations, and more than 50 houses were set on fire.

North Kivu now accounts for almost half of all new infections in Congo's Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, the second most affected province after the epicentre, Ituri. Authorities have recorded more than 10,000 cases and 5,000 deaths across the outbreak, according to Reuters. Health workers warn that patients fleeing treatment centres risk carrying the virus into new areas, while the raid also destroyed medical infrastructure in a region already under severe strain.

The ADF, which has roots in Uganda and pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2019, has long operated in the border region and routinely attacks civilians. No group has formally claimed responsibility for this raid, and officials attributed it to the ADF based on the pattern of the attack.