Rebels Kill Six, Kidnap Five In East DRC

Suspected Ugandan rebels killed six people, hacking one woman to death, and kidnapped five others - mostly children - in the Democratic Republic of Congo's restive east, officials said on Sunday.

Officials blamed the two attacks in Beni near the country's border with Uganda on the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), one of several armed movements operating in the region.

"They entered Beni in the night between Saturday and Sunday and killed five people and looted the shops and the homes," Donat Kibwana, local Beni administrator, told AFP, blaming the ADF.

Rebels Kill Six, Kidnap Five In East DRC

During separate attack by the same group in another Beni neighbourhood, a woman was hacked to death by machete and five people, including four children were kidnapped, Kizito Bin Hangi, a Beni civic leader, told AFP.

"We thought the military had a security cordon around the town, but nothing was done. It's deplorable to leave the town defenceless," Kizito said.

Soldiers were pursuing the rebels after they came under attack in Mayi-Moya and Beni, an army spokesperson said.

The Beni area has for the last four years been under seige from the ADF, an Islamist armed group that has killed hundreds of people since 2014.

The ADF was blamed for killing 15 Tanzanian UN peacekeepers a year ago in eastern DRC.

Unrest in eastern regions is running in parallel with another DRC conflict in central Kasai, casting a shadow over the country's ability to stage presidential elections next month to replace Joseph Kabila