Mourning and Protest in Mambasa Amid ADF Violence

Mambasa, Ituri, August 11, 2026 - ADF pressure across Mambasa’s Babila Babombi belt produced a cascade of civilian harm through the first half of August. On the evening of 7 August at Banana École (about PK20 from Mambasa-centre, Bapongomo grouping), attackers attributed to the ADF killed at least 13 civilians, burned part of the village and abducted people; by the morning of 8 August the hostage tally stood at 14, including a couple seized later. Protection Plus denounced ignored alerts and demanded a serious reassessment of civilian-protection devices. On the night of 8-9 August two more civilians were killed in separate incidents at Mirindi near Mambasa-centre and at PK26 on the Mambasa-Makeke axis, while at least 21 people remained missing after successive ADF raids; civil society called for army offensives to free hostages. On 11 August, civil-society structures announced a mourning day and commercial paralysis for 12 August, then a six-month “fiscal incivisme” from 13 August; territorial administrator Matadi Muyapandi Jean Baptiste urged dialogue instead, while Protection Plus warned that accumulated anger could turn confrontational.

The August wave sits on an already deadly late-July trail in the same theatre. On 27 July, Komanda marked one year since the night of 26-27 July 2025, when ADF fighters killed 43 civilians at Bienheureuse Anuarite parish in Irumu; a memorial Mass was held at the same church, and parish priest Aimé Dhego urged forces to free children still held by the group amid fresh raids in Irumu and Mambasa. Earlier in Bapakombe/Bapere, a Makumo attack killed about ten people and a 21-22 July raid left at least seven dead with homes burned - the same pattern of alerts that preceded August’s Banana École massacre and the mourning strike.