Worshippers Slaughtered in 1am 'Killing Spree' in DRC
Islamic State video showing a previous ADF attack in the DRC
The Komanda is a town in the rural Ituri province of eastern DRC. Reports of the precise numbers killed vary between sources but are expected to rise in the coming days.
UN sources report that several other bodies were discovered in burned-out houses and businesses not far from the church where the vigil was held. It's unclear whether they were Christians or not.
The latest news follows a widely reported mass killing in North Kivu in February, when an alleged 70 Christians were beheaded in a church building. However, according to Illia Djadi, Open Doors’ senior researcher for freedom of religious belief in sub-Saharan Africa, the attacks by the ADF have been continuing since then:
“The killings are very strategic. They are attacking defenceless rural farming communities, where there's no security presence. Most of the time they're using machetes, beheading people, in the dead of night not to attract attention. They are massacring village after village, community after community.”
The news comes at a time when the world’s eyes are on a proposed peace deal between the DRC and neighbouring Rwanda, overseen by US President Donald Trump. The civil conflict has left Congolese security forces struggling to control the Rwandan-backed paramilitary group M23, particularly in the capital Kinshasa.
As a result, says Illia, it has left the vast rural areas undefended, and the ADF free to carry out the killing sprees with impunity.
“There's no attention on the activity of ADF and the ongoing massacres. This power vacuum has allowed them to continue the slaughter unchecked, and often unreported. The ADF have a very clear aim: they want to turn a large part of DRC into an Islamic caliphate, like the horrific one instigated in Iraq and Syria in 2014 by Islamic State.
“We need to see a clear willingness and responsibility from the government to protect their citizens. And the international community also needs to wake up to what’s happening. The name may be different, but this is Islamic State at work. Around six million people have been killed over 30 years in eastern DRC, and eight million internally displaced. We must use all the means used to defeat IS in Syria and Iraq to defeat them again in Eastern DRC.”
Open Doors partner groups in the DRC have travelled to Komanda, and will be providing aid, medicine and trauma counselling for survivors of Sunday’s attack.
Open Doors UK & Ireland
Open Doors UK & Ireland is part of Open Doors International, a global NGO network which has supported and strengthened persecuted Christians for over 60 years and works in over 60 countries. Open Doors provides practical support to persecuted Christians, such as food, medicines, trauma care, legal assistance, safe houses and schools, as well as spiritual support through Christian literature, training and resources.
Persecution country guides for media
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Ben Cohen
Open Doors UK & Ireland
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