18 people killed in DR Congo rebel attack

At least 18 people, including 14 civilians, have been killed in a rebel attack in Beni in Democratic Republic of Congo's restive east. An army spokesperson told AFP today. Four soldiers were among the dead following the attack on Saturday night, a military official said. 

The Beni region, not far from the Ugandan border, is under siege from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist rebel group blamed for hundreds of civilian deaths over the past



four years.

The ADF is a militia initially created by Muslim rebels to oppose Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, but also operates in the DRC.

Beni is in North Kivu province, one of the most populated areas of the DRC, and home to a number of armed groups that kill or abduct civilians. Foreign humanitarian workers have been stationed in Beni since early August to deal with a new Ebola outbreak in the region.