India, April 4 -- Rebels affiliated with the Islamic State group killed at least 43 people in eastern Congo, officials said Thursday. Fighters with the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, killed the civilians on Wednesday night in Bafwakoa village. The Ugandan Islamist group operates on both sides of the porous border.

"They set fire to houses in the village," Samuel Banapia, a member of civil society in the area, said by phone.

Congo's military, in a statement, said 43 had been killed, while local officials said the toll was at least 56, with several people missing and at least two taken hostage.

Congo's army has struggled to contain the ADF as it battles several other rebel groups in the east. The most prominent is the Rwandan-backed M...