RDC : « Pas un jour ne passe sans qu’une personne soit tuée parce qu’elle est chrétienne”

DRC: “Not a day goes by without someone being killed because they are Christian”

ByThe Mwebantu Team

New massacre of Catholics by Islamist terrorists in Congo.

“According to testimonies collected by the coordination of civil society in the province of Ituri, the ADF Islamists arrived in the village of Ndimo, in the territory of Irumu, at around 8 p.m., while the night had already fallen”explains one of the leaders of the association joined in Bunia, the capital of the province of Ituri in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the two provinces, with North Kivu, placed under state of siege by the power of Kinshasa.

The attackers, who pledged allegiance in 2018 to the Islamic State group, killed around ten Catholics, kidnapped numerous villagers and set fire to several houses in the village. “The timing of the attack coincided with the presence of the military administrator of the territory in the region,” declared a resident of Ndimo to a member of the staff of International Christian Concern (ICC), a Catholic NGO based in the United States, for whom “the ADF allegedly targeted this area due to the administrator's visit, with the aim of disrupting stability and sowing fear among the local population.”

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Many families are left homeless and the entire village now lives in fear in the face of the brutality of these attacks. “The villagers are devastated and do not know where to turn to ensure their safety. Islamists come and go in the region with complete impunity. The Congolese authorities and army are incapable of stopping these massacres,” continues the member of the civil society of the province who insists on the fact that a “base of the joint force of the Congolese and Ugandan armies (UPDF) is located one kilometer from the village”.

The village had already been targeted by Islamist rebels on March 29. Four people, three civilians and a soldier from the Armed Forces of the DRC, were then killed in this attack carried out after dark. According to local sources, five other people, including a six-year-old child, were also shot and injured during this attack. The Islamists, who were then seeking to stock up on medicine, had ransacked the Ndimo health center before disappearing into the Monge forest to the west of the village.

DRC: around twenty civilians killed in a new massacre in Ituri

Religious massacres

ADF attacks very regularly target Christian villages. “If the international community recognizes the extreme danger posed by the ADF, it does not seem to be fully aware of the religious component of this movement”explains the ICC regional director for Africa, who continues: “The ADF is an Islamic terrorist group seeking global jihad. The ADF is spreading terror across the DRC by rampaging through Christian villages and forcing victims to join their cause.”

”To have any hope of saving their lives, kidnapped people must convert to Islam. Otherwise, their throats are slit and their bodies are left in plain sight when they are not set on fire. explains the head of civil society in Ituri who adds: “in our province, not a day goes by without people being killed by these terrorists because they are Christians”.

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The Mwebantu Team
The Mwebantu Team

Led by Nia, the insightful editor-in-chief, Kwame, our technology expert, and Amara, the bold field reporter, the Mwebantu team weaves the vibrant narrative of Africa every day, forging a narrative bridge between the continent and the world. Their shared passion illuminates the mission of Mwebantu News, making African voices resonate on the global stage.