Ten people were killed overnight Sunday in eastern DR Congo, where massacres of civilians by a rebel group have sparked protests against UN peacekeepers, local officials said.

Ten civilians were killed in the village of Kamango, a day after 22 were murdered in Ntombi, Donat Kibuana, administrator for the territory of Beni, told AFP on Monday.

“The 22 who were killed in Ntombi had not even been buried when other civilians were killed, in Kamango,” he said.

“Ten bodies have been brought to the morgue so far.”

Pascal Saambili, a traditional leader in Watalinga district, blamed the latest attack on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militia accused of hundreds of civilian deaths.

“The ADF burst into Kamango at nightfall. They killed civilians with machetes and guns. So far, we have recovered 10 bodies. There are also nine injured.”

“The people are in disarray.”

Faustin Basweki, who heads an association for young people in Kamango, said he had witnessed the massacre.

“When troops arrived, the terrorists gave the order to pull out and leave Kamango, speaking in Kiganda,” a language spoken in nearby Uganda, whose border lies 15 kilometres (eight miles) away, he said.

The ADF — a militia whose historical roots lie in Uganda and jihadism — has been active in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since the Congo Wars of the 1990s.

The group has killed more than 1,000 civilians since October 2014, according to the not-for-profit Congo Research Group (CRG).

DRC forces launched operations against the ADF in the eastern region at the end of October.

In response the ADF has killed scores of civilians in an apparent bid to discourage the public from helping the military.

The massacres have unleashed a wave of anger, especially in the city of Beni, where local people have accused the large UN force in DRC of failing to protect them.

The UN force has pointed out that anti-ADF operations were launched by government forces, and has insisted it is trying to find a solution to keep the population safe.

AFP