Explosion rocks crowded market in eastern Congo city of Beni

An explosion rocked a crowded market in the city of Beni in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, a Reuters witness said.

The witness said police were at the scene tending to casualties. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion and whether anyone had been killed.

The U.S. embassy in Congo's capital Kinshasa said on Tuesday that it believed "terrorist attacks" were planned in Beni "in the near future," and warned citizens against travelling there.

Beni has seen several recent bombings that authorities have blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan militant group that has pledged allegiance to the Daesh [ISIS].

A suicide bomber struck a Beni restaurant on Christmas Day last year, killing at least five people as well as himself, officials said.

Beni was also hit by two explosions in June last year at a Catholic church and at a busy intersection. The only death in the two incidents was in the second bombing, in which the suspected bomber was killed.