UPDATE - 25 dead in rebel attack in Democratic Republic of Congo

*UPDATES DEATH TOLL, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Fiston Mahamba

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (AA) - Death toll in an attack by Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo increased to 25, local administration officer told Anadolu Agency on Sunday.

The attack took place in Manzamapini, Maïtatu and Baobab villages near Beni’s regional capital, Oïcha, also near the border with Uganda.

Among the dead, there were 21 civilians, who were killed by knives and bullets by ADF elements, and 4 rebels were killed in army's raking operations, Remy Paluku Lumande, Beni-Mbau sector's chief, said.

Authorities asked people living in villages in the territory to leave the area. "These populations are asked to displace towards the villages protected by national Congolese army's [FARDC] positions," Lumande warned.

However, a local activist from Beni's civil society told Anadolu Agency the attacked villages have been protected by Congolese army's units. "We are surprised that the attack took place in an environment secured by the regular army," pastor Gilbert Kambale, president of civil society in Beni region, said.

Cpt. Mak Hazukay Mongba, spokesman for an anti-ADF army operation supported by the U.N. Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), told Anadolu Agency the army killed 4 rebels, and 2 of them were suspected rebel chiefs. Mongba said the army recovered two weapons and a machete used by assailants in the attacks on civilians.

The ADF is an armed Ugandan group, active since the late 1990s, set on overthrowing that nation's government.

According to local NGOs, more than 1,000 people have been killed in attacks in the Beni border region since October 2014, most with knives, while a recent report by Human Rights Watch puts the number at nearly 700.