About a dozen people have been killed in northeastern part of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by suspected Islamist rebels on Wednesday.
Data reveals since 2014 about 1,000 civilians have been killed in several similar attacks in the region.
Officials said Ugandan Islamist group called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) may have killed the civilians during a raid on late Tuesday on the city of Beni.
Center of Study for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights too said ADF rebels killed eleven civilians in the part of DRC.
The local activist group added further most of the people were killed with machetes and hatchets.
The United Nations as well as the DRC government have blamed such massacres have been frequent near Beni and mostly carried out with crude weapons.
It is feared Congo may slide back into civil war again as Beni has turned up to be one of the several hotspots in the country.
Violence has increased following denial of President Joseph Kabila to step down even after his mandate ended in 2016. Presidential election is scheduled to be held later this year in December, but it is not clear whether the vote would replace him.
Meanwhile, the army said have attacked the armed groups and ADF strongholds in Virunga National Park is now being targeted.
Earlier this year in January a joint military offensive was launched by Congo and Uganda following killing of fifteen Tanzanian peacekeepers in December by the militia.
