Suspected fighters from a notorious rebel group have killed 10 civilians in an attack in Ituri in eastern DR Congo, local officials said Saturday, as fighting continued.

Atibo Yofesi, the chief of several villages in Ituri's Irumu territory told AFP that Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels attacked the village of Kandoyi late Friday afternoon and torched houses. 

Youngsters discovered the dead bodies of nine civilians on Saturday, he said, adding that fighting was ongoing in the nearby village of Bandiboli.

"We're continuing to conduct searches," Yofesi said.

Dieudonne Malangay, a local civil society representative, confirmed the death toll in Kandoyi and said one civilian had been killed during fighting between the ADF and Congolese soldiers in Bandiboli on Saturday.

The ADF is among the most violent of the more than 120 militias that roam the Democratic Republic of Congo's troubled east.

The militia -- which the Islamic State group claims as its central African branch -- has been accused of massacring Congolese civilians as well as staging attacks in neighbouring Uganda.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi placed Ituri and neighbouring North Kivu province under the administration of security forces last year in a bid to stem the violence.

However, the measure has failed to stop attacks against civilians.