The Bulongo massacre (French: Massacre de Bulongo, Swahili: Mauaji ya Bulongo) occurred on 15 March 2021, when Islamic State-affiliated (IS) Allied Democratic Forces (ADF-Baluku) rebels attacked attacked the town of Bulongo, Beni Territory in northeastern North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 15 people. The attack occurred in the middle of the night, between approximately 12:00 and 2:00 a.m. CAT. Upwards of 15 Congolese civilians were killed.
Background
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan Islamist rebel group that is active in northeastern DRC, declared bay'ah to the Islamic State in 2019 and officially became the Islamic State's Central Africa Province. Since the merging to ISCAP, the group targeted civilians more often in deadly massacres throughout North Kivu.
The town of Bulongo itself had been attacked several times by the ADF/ISCAP, killing over 70 people and kidnapping 40. In 2021, the group began slaughtering everyone above the age of 15.
Massacre
The massacre began between 12:00 and 2:00 a.m. in the Mutilipi district of the city, shortly after which the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) stated it had sent reinforcements to the area to stop the massacre. ADF rebels attacked Bulongo with machetes and pickaxes, reportedly slaughtering everyone they saw.
Many of the slain civilians were beheaded and their bodies were gutted. It was initially confirmed that 12 civilians were killed in the attack. The death toll would later account for at least 15 civilians having been killed.
Reactions and response
The following day, locals and survivors protested against Congolese forces and MONUSCO for not preventing the attack, particularly blaming their delayed response time. Police opened fire to disperse the crowd, during which one protester was killed and another seriously injured by bullets.
Responsibility
The Defense Post said the Kivu Security Tracker (KST) group had initially suspected the ADF of being responsible, with local sources also blaming the ADF. Africanews and Jamestown's Terrorism Monitor later confirmed that the attack was perpetrated by the ADF, furthermore corroborated by the IS later claiming responsibility itself.