In eastern Congo, rebels affiliated with the Islamic State group attacked Bafwakoa village on Wednesday night, killing at least 43 people, according to officials and witnesses described by local sources in a report published April 2.

Samuel Banapia, a civil society member in the area, said by phone that the fighters “They set fire to houses in the village,” describing the assault as one that involved burning homes. The attack took place in the context of an expanding armed conflict in eastern Congo, where multiple rebel groups have continued to operate and where the Ugandan Islamist group Allied Democratic Forces has drawn international attention for its attacks on civilians.

Congo’s military said in a statement that 43 people were killed. Local officials put the death toll higher, saying it was at least 56, with several people missing and at least two taken hostage, as the armed group’s raid was still being assessed.

Congo’s forces have struggled to contain the ADF as they also fight other rebel groups in the east, including the Rwandan-backed M23, which last year seized major cities in the region. In an explanation of the ADF’s tactics, Lt. Jules Ngongo, a spokesperson for Congo’s military in the east, said the ADF “avoids direct combat with the army and all its partners,” adding that “That’s why they attack the population in a way that sabotages peace efforts and acts of revenge against the population, thus reprisals against our people.”

The report said the number of ADF fighters in Congo is unclear. The group originated in the late 1990s in Uganda and became affiliated with the Islamic State group in 2019, with Muslims making up about 10% of the Congolese population, most of them in the east.

In recent years, the report said ADF attacks intensified near the border with Uganda and spread toward Goma, eastern Congo’s main city, as well as neighboring Ituri province. It also said the ADF killed 66 people and abducted several more in a neighboring area last year.

At the same time, the uneven casualty figures reported—43 in the military statement and at least 56 in local estimates—reflected the challenges of verifying events in remote areas while searches continue and hostage-taking is still being confirmed.