KINSHASA - At least 80 people were killed overnight Monday to Tuesday in an attack blamed on Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), local authorities confirmed to Xinhua on Tuesday.

The attack targeted a funeral gathering in the village of Ntoyo, said Colonel Alain Kiwewa, administrator of Lubero territory in the eastern North Kivu province, putting the provisional death toll at around 80, while adding that several people remain missing or were taken hostage by the assailants.

The ADF, an Islamic State affiliate in Central Africa and a Ugandan-origin armed group, has escalated assaults on villages in North Kivu and Ituri provinces in recent months, mainly targeting civilians.

According to the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC, the assaults claimed at least 52 lives on Aug 9-16 in North Kivu. In late July, some 40 civilians were killed during an attack on a Catholic church in Ituri.

Joint Congolese and Ugandan military operations against the ADF have been underway since November 2021, but attacks have persisted.