DR Congo: ADF rebels kill at least 33 in North Kivu village, Ebola patients flee burning health post

At least 33 people have been killed in an overnight attack on Cantine, a village in North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, about 50km west of the town of Beni.

Local civil society leader Justin Paluku said most of the victims were shot, while others were burned or hacked with machetes. More than 50 houses were set on fire. Residents and officials blame the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group with roots in Uganda that has pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group.

The attackers also burned a health post. About 180 patients, including people suspected of having Ebola and one confirmed case, fled into the bush. Officials warned that people with the virus who are now out in the open could spread it further.

North Kivu accounts for nearly half of new infections in Congo's Ebola outbreak, which has now killed more than 5,300 people, according to Africa CDC. As PauseandPonderTV reported on Friday, it is the deadliest outbreak in the country's history.

The ADF has killed thousands of civilians in eastern Congo over the past decade, and its attacks have made it much harder for health workers to reach sick people and trace their contacts.