UNITED NATIONS, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Rebel raids in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) killed at least 21 civilians over the weekend, a UN spokesman said on Monday.

In the last two weeks, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel attacks resulted in at least 118 civilian casualties, said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Haq said the peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO, reported a string of attacks in neighboring North Kivu and Ituri provinces overnight on Saturday, triggering population displacement.

"In the village of Nguli in North Kivu, suspected ADF members killed at least 10 civilians, and abducted three others," he said.

The spokesman said MONUSCO and DRC defense forces launched joint patrols along the Beni-Butembo road in response, engaging with local authorities and community members in ADF areas.

To the north, in Ituri province, at least 11 civilians died, including two women and two children, in simultaneous raids by the armed group CODECO across several villages in Mahagi territory, Haq said, adding that peacekeepers dispatched a patrol to the village of Ngote to protect civilians fleeing the violence and to support efforts by the national army to restore stability there. Enditem

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