ISIS Fanatics Heinously Behead, Murder Civilians As They Rampage Congo Villages

At least 22 people have been killed, including women and children, by machete-wielding ISIS extremists late Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militia linked to the Islamic State (ISIS), reportedly attacked the Kisima-Vutotolia villagers on Tuesday evening, leaving dozens of people dead and several children orphaned.

According to aid workers, 13 of the dead were tied up and beheaded following the ambush near the town of Beni in the country's northeast. Among the victims are two children, aged four and two-months old, who were found dead beside their parents.

It remains unknown how many of the victims were women and children. The official death toll is also anticipated to climb as more bodies are recovered from the surrounding jungle, according to the Daily Star.

The Kivu Security Tracker, which monitors violence in the region, said that seven bodies of civilians were retrieved in nearby Singipa.

Roger Masimango, a spokesperson of Rwenzori civil society groups, said that the Kisima village chief and his wife were among the dead, The Sun noted.

A four-month-old baby was reportedly discovered in the carnage, tucked between two piles of dead bodies. The newborn was found clinging to the back of a dead man, believed to be the baby's father. The child sustained injuries but is alive and was rushed to a nearby health facility for treatment.

It is believed that the child survivor's parents were among those massacred in the attack but the body of the newborn's mother has yet to be recovered.

Authorities said that several villagers may have also been kidnaped but the exact number of those missing is unclear.

The attack comes three weeks after the military proclaimed martial law in two provinces neighboring Uganda in response to the escalating violence, according to the Daily Mail. The affected areas included the village where the latest attack took place.

In March this year, the U.S. had identified the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) as a terror organization, calling it the "ISIS-Democratic Republic of the Congo."

ISIS has claimed responsibility for a series of atrocities in the area in recent times.

The ADF, which teamed up with ISIS two years ago, seeks to annihilate the Ugandan government and radicalize it into an Islamic state. Neighboring Uganda has been working with Congo forces to subdue the militia but refuses to deploy troops across the border.

The militant group's terror campaign at the border dates back to 1996 and has continued to wreak havoc in the region despite efforts by Ugandan and Congolese forces to eradicate the insurgency and its members.