No fewer than eight people were killed in an overnight attack by an unidentified armed group in Democratic Republic of Congo’s troubled east, local officials said on Wednesday.

The local administrative chief, Janson Ntawiha said that the attack happened in Katoro, in Rutshuru territory in North Kivu province and six out the eight of them members are of the same family.

“The assailants used machetes and guns,” he said.

The toll was confirmed by Rutshuru police chief Colonel Blaise Dimundu, who added that there were several wounded.

The eastern provinces of the DRC, a vast country the size of continental western Europe, are in the grip of armed groups, many of them claiming to defend ethnic communities.

According to UN figures, 1,315 people were killed in the first half of 2020, more than triple the toll of 416 over the same period last year.