Suspected Islamist militants killed 13 people in attacks on two villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday.

The attacks are the latest in a spate of raids the United Nations says may constitute war crimes, reports CGTN, quoting Reuters.
According to U.N figures, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) which operates in the DR Congo’s North Kivu province, has killed more than 1,000 civilians since 2019.

In its report, Reuters reports that the attackers tied up the victims in the villages of Kinziki-Matiba and Wikeno before killing them in the attack on Friday afternoon.

The army helped the civilians bury the bodies and is considering deploying more troop in the ares to bolster security.

The ADF has operated in the dense forests near the Ugandan border for more than three decades.

Several attacks attributed to the militant group have also been claimed by the Islamic State, although evidence of a link between the two groups remains scarce.