UN urges joint strategy to tackle violence in DRC

ANKARA (AA) - The UN on Tuesday urged its peacekeeping mission and Congolese authorities to devise a joint strategy to tackle insecurity in the country's east as well as the Ebola virus outbreak.

The UN statement came after "an independent assessment" into violent attacks allegedly committed by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel group which is reportedly active in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The assessment team [..] sought to establish the circumstances surrounding the attacks in Beni, located in North Kivu province, as well as assaults in Mambasa territory in neighboring Ituri province targeting the national and international response to the deadly Ebola virus outbreak,” read the statement.

In the last two months rebels have killed 150 civilians in Beni and neighboring towns triggering angry protests and in some cases storming of UN facilities.

A military operation was launched last October in the eastern part of the country against armed groups.

The army in November killed Mouhamed Mukubwa, one of the top leaders of the ADF, at a forest in Beni.

Local authorities and civil society groups say the ADF has killed more than 1,000 people in the Beni region since 2014.