Patients describe massacres of civilians in Binza, DR Congo

Screams of anguish

Espérance* was working in the fields when armed men in uniform arrived. “Wherever they found men, they systematically killed and decapitated them [with machetes],” she said. “We saw eight men killed.” 

The women and children were rounded up and taken to a nearby river. As shots rang out, lifeless bodies began falling into the water. Espérance jumped in with her baby tied to her back, in a bid to save their lives. 

When she made it to the other side, she realized that her baby had been shot in the head. “I untied my shawl and let his body slide into the river,” she said. 

Once the shooting died down, Espérance returned to the site of the massacre to find her two remaining children murdered. Her screams of anguish drew the attention of a nearby armed man who raped and abandoned her. 

Treating the wounded

Patients from Binza received by MSF in the Rutshuru hospital at the time also described massacres and summary executions of civilians present in fields east of the Virunga National Park in July. Witnesses have also described the dead bodies of gunshot victims found near the village of Kiseguru. 

While MSF is unable to verify a precise death toll, 124 victims of intentional injuries were treated at the General Reference Hospital in July and August, mostly coming from the health zones of Binza and Bambo.

“We treated multiple patients, including women and children, who had been wounded by gunshots during what they described as the mass killing of civilians in July,” said Christopher Mambula, MSF program manager for DRC. “Some appear to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Armed groups across Rutshuru continue to kill civilians to this day, in flagrant and unacceptable violation of international humanitarian law.”

MSF treats increasing number of victims

At Rutshuru General Reference Hospital, where MSF provides surgical and other medical support, teams treated an average of 59 victims of violence per month from January to August—a 15 percent increase compared to the same period the year before, and the highest figure since MSF started collecting such data in the area in 2019. Most gunshot victims seen by MSF teams in Rutshuru are civilians (representing 83 patients of all patients in July and August 2025).

Although large-scale massacres appear to have subsided, civilians continue to suffer violence at the hands of armed groups, with daily reports of abuses also committed by other armed groups (CMC, Wazalendo, or FDLR).

“We still receive lots of gunshot victims every day,” said Karry Félix, an MSF surgeon working at the hospital. “Sometimes, it is people who have been caught in crossfire during clashes. Sometimes, it is combatants.”

Marie*’s father and three brothers were killed in August while they were working in the fields of Binza. “We are scared,” she said. “There is no peace here. You can be killed for nothing.”

Besides treating the wounded, MSF has been forced to limit its response to an ongoing cholera outbreak in the area due to restrictions imposed by AFC (Alliance Fleuve Congo)/M23. While we continue to operate a treatment center in Kiseguru, limited access partly explains why the number of patients treated fell to approximately 10 per day at the end of August.

Hunger crisis looms amid mass displacement

Binza lies in an area of fertile lands where many seek to make a living through working the fields east of the Virunga National Park, where Wazalendo and FDLR armed groups are present. M23 has been conducting military operations against those groups in the area in recent months. This confrontation—which local communities say have left fields strewn with decomposing bodies—have led to mass displacements and has prevented farmers from harvesting their crops and preparing the land for the next planting season, raising the prospect of a malnutrition crisis.

“There were many of us,” said Judith*, who was shot in the leg while harvesting maize in July. “Others died there and there is no one to bury them. I can’t go back to the field for fear of being killed. They kill people who dare to look for food there.”

The following month, Justine* discovered her husband had been killed while looking for plantain bananas. She had recently given birth when she was told the news.  “Hunger will kill people here,” she said. “People are not working the land.”

MSF treated more than 400 cases of severe malnutrition among children under 5 across the territory in July and August. Mass displacement triggered by insecurity will likely worsen the situation. 

*Names have been changed