ADF Raid Kills 33 in Ebola-Hit Congo Village as Ebola Patients Flee

At least 33 civilians were killed in an overnight raid on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where attackers also set homes and a health post on fire and forced patients with confirmed and suspected Ebola infections to flee.

Local officials and civil society groups blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group that Islamic State recognises as an affiliate, for the assault on Cantine, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of the town of Beni in North Kivu province.

The attack struck a region at the centre of an Ebola outbreak that has drawn in the United States, where a CDC rule now requires everyone boarding a US-bound flight to sign a form confirming they have not been in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the previous 21 days.

The overnight raid on Cantine

The assault began at about 11 p.m. local time on Thursday, 5 November, and continued into Friday, the Associated Press reported. Rescuers later recovered 33 bodies, according to two local civil society leaders who gave the same count independently to the Associated Press and to Reuters.

“So far, we have counted 33 bodies and more than 50 houses set on fire, along with various other forms of material destruction,” Justin Paluku, head of a local civil society group, told the Associated Press.

Tchetche Aliamini, another local civil society leader, confirmed the toll of 33 to Reuters and said most of the victims had gunshot wounds, while others had been burned or hacked with machetes.

Beni territorial administrator Colonel Charles Omeonga told Reuters that ADF fighters set fire to several houses and killed civilians. He said no official toll could yet be established because heavy rain had hampered army operations, so 33 remains the civil society count rather than a final official toll.

Paluku described the attack as a failure of protection for the village. “This represents a major security failure,” he told the Associated Press.

A health post in flames as Ebola patients flee

The attackers also set fire to a health post during the assault, forcing patients with confirmed and suspected Ebola infections to flee, according to Al Jazeera’s account, which drew on both wire agencies.

The United Nations said Ebola response teams had to halt work in the area after the raid, raising fears the disruption could help the virus spread undetected.

The outbreak behind the response is the same one that prompted the US measures. The CDC order was linked to an Ebola outbreak affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, with 9,455 confirmed cases and 4,561 deaths recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo as of 18 October. Airlines warned the new form was unworkable as the 3 November deadline approached.

Who are the ADF?

The ADF began as a Ugandan rebel movement in the 1990s before moving into the forests of eastern Congo. It pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2019 and has since been blamed for thousands of civilian deaths in North Kivu and Ituri, often in night-time raids on remote villages.

In July 2025, the group killed 66 people in eastern Congo in what the United Nations called a “bloodbath”.

Despite years of military operations by Congolese forces, backed at times by Ugandan troops, the ADF has continued to strike villages across the Beni territory, where roads are poor and state presence is thin.

A region already under strain

Reuters reported that the raid on Cantine was the latest in a series of attacks blamed on the ADF in the Beni area, and that the burning of the health post struck directly at the Ebola response in one of the outbreak’s hardest-hit provinces. Health officials now face two emergencies at once: treating and tracing people exposed to Ebola after patients fled a burning clinic, and accounting for the dead and displaced in a village where more than 50 homes were destroyed.

For the families of Cantine, the questions are practical — where to sleep, how to reach medical care, and whether the attackers will return.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people were killed in the Cantine attack?

Civil society groups counted 33 bodies after the raid, a figure confirmed independently to the Associated Press and to Reuters. No official toll has yet been established.

Who is blamed for the attack?

Local officials and civil society groups blamed the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan-rooted group that pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2019.

Why did Ebola patients have to flee?

Attackers set fire to a health post during the raid, forcing patients with confirmed and suspected Ebola infections to flee. The United Nations said Ebola response teams had to halt work in the area afterwards.