BENI, DR Congo, Jan 2, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Fresh raids by fighters with the Islamic State group-linked ADF rebels killed at least 12 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources told AFP on Wednesday.

These latest attacks come after a series of ADF raids over the Christmas period that killed 21 people in North Kivu province.

The new attacks overnight Tuesday to Wednesday targeted two places in the same province, said local officials.

The rebels killed at least eight people in the village of Bilendu, not far from Manguredjipa, Samuel Kagheni, a local official in the Bapere sector, told AFP. Other local sources confirmed that toll to AFP.

The rebels also killed at least four people in the village of Mangoya, burning houses in both places, the same sources said.

Originally from Uganda, the ADF, or Allied Democratic Forces, have been present since the mid-1990s in the DRC's restive northeast, where its fighters have killed thousands of civilians.

In 2019, the ADF pledged allegiance to IS.

The IS touts them as its Islamic State Central Africa Province and claims responsibility for some of the rebel group's attacks.

At the end of 2021, Uganda and the DRC launched a joint military operation against the ADF.

Baptised "Shujaa", that offensive has so far proved unsuccessful in putting an end to their attacks.

Both armies have pushed the rebels back into remote and inaccessible areas, where local civilians are often at the mercy of their particularly violent methods.