"At least 20 civilians were killed overnight in the village of Boga and at least 19 in the village of Tchabi," in Irumu territory in Ituri province, the Kivu Security Tracker (KST) group said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
According to AFP, a local official blamed a notorious group linked to the ISIL terrorist group.
A local civil society leader attributed the attacks to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) , which is a historically Ugandan radical group blamed for a string of massacres in the past 18 months.
Two local officials reached Boga by AFP said the assailants attacked a camp for displaced people. They said 36 bodies had been found so far in Boga, a figure that had yet to be independently confirmed.
The two villages are located about 10 kilometres (six miles) apart on the border between North Kivu province and Ituri, an area that has long had a reputation for ADF attacks and ethnic friction.
Meanwhile, the BBC has reported that the number of the killed in eastern DRC to 50.
KI/PR