New Delhi, May 9 -- An Islamic State-affiliated group attacked villages in Congo near the border with Uganda, killing at least 40 people and burning and looting homes, a local civil society group said Friday.

The attacks were carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces overnight from Wednesday through Thursday afternoon, according to Charite Banza, the leader of the Ituri civil society group and Kinos Katua, a member of the group who lives in the area.

The Allied Democratic Forces, which has roots in Uganda and which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2019, has long operated in the border region.

Banza told The Associated Press that 25 people were killed in border villages in the Beni territory of North Kivu while 15 othe...