At least 31 civilians have been killed in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo in less than one week in attacks attributed to ADF terrorists, local and security sources said on Monday.

The attacks occurred between Wednesday and Monday this week, Jospin Paluku, head of the Mambasa civil society in the northeastern province of Ituri, told AFP.

Other local sources confirmed the death toll of 31, while a security source said around 50 people were killed.

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has committed extreme violence against civilians, carrying out repeated massacres in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

At least 18 people killed in one day alone

Those northeast regions, rich in minerals, have been plagued by violence for more than 30 years. The ADF terrorist group and other armed groups have been perpetrating the attacks.

The local and security sources said the most recent attacks occurred in several areas of the Babila Babombi area, located in Mambasa territory in Ituri.

At least 18 of the victims were killed on Friday in the mining village of Njiapanda-Bela, they said.

The ADF has been seeking for several months to extract "protection" money from local communities that earn income from growing cocoa and mining, according to analysts.

More than 190 civilians killed since January 2026

"A week ago, I paid $10 as a tax demanded by the ADF. We come across them often in the bush," a farmer for a zone in Mambasa told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"They give us token as receipt of payment. If you're found without a token, that means you haven't paid their tax and it is death," said another farmer, also demanding anonymity.

Uganda has deployed troops since 2021 in the parts of North Kivu and Ituri to help the DRC army fight the ADF.

More than 190 civilians have been killed since January in Babila Babombi, in areas where the ADF has not yet imposed its "protection" levy, Muhindo Mamboro Peresi, head of the region's civil society, told AFP.