Ten people kidnapped by armed group in eastern DRC

Ten people have been kidnapped by an armed group in the Beni region of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources said on Thursday.

The assailants raided Chianichani village, where they looted and burned a local health centre and robbed houses, sources said.

"Ten people were swept away by these attackers," Donat Kibwana, administrative director of Beni, told AFP.

Beni has been one of the main cities affected by DRC tenth outbreak of Ebola in 40 year - the virus has killed more than 1,000 people since August.

According to the SITE Intelligence group, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in Chianchiani and another village, Kumbwa in Kamango, saying they clashed with the Congolese military.

AFP could not immediately verify the claim.

The Congolese army has not reported an attack on its bases in Kamango.

Last month, the Islamic State group for the first time claimed to be behind an attack on a Congolese army position in North Kivu province.

Another group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) - forced out of Uganda in the mid 1990s -- are regularly accused by DRC authorities of attacking army positions in North Kivu.

The Islamist-rooted ADF have notably been blamed for a 2014 massacre of hundreds of civilians in the North Kivu region of Beni.