Six civilians were killed and dozens of homes were torched in an attack in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo blamed on the notorious ADF militia, a local official said on Monday.

The attack took place Sunday near the Eringeti-Kainama road, leaving four women and two men dead, said Sabiti Njiamoja, an official at the governor's office in Eringeti, in North Kivu province.

Locals are burying the dead after the six civilians "were gratuitously murdered by the ADF," added Njiamoja, whose town along with Oicha and Mbau have become a triangle of death in North Kivu's Beni region.

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) have killed hundreds in the region since late last year, in apparent retaliation for a military offensive against their bases.

More than 1 000 civilians have died in attacks blamed on the ADF in the Beni region since October 2014.