Open Doors, which supports persecuted Christians around the world, said that according to field sources, at around 4am last Thursday (13 February) suspected militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – a group with ties to so-called Islamic State (IS) – approached homes in Mayba in the territory of Lubero in DRC.
Ordered to “Get out, get out and don’t make any noise”, Twenty Christian men and women came out and were captured. ADF militants then surrounded the village and captured a further Christians.
All 70 of those kidnapped were taken to a Protestant church in Kasanga where they were killed. The UK Mirror said that “horrific details from local media have revealed that they were decapitated using machetes”.
The ADF – Allied Defence Forces – are affiliated to ISIS and they are seen as the most deadly armed group in the region. The M23 – March 23 Movement – has previously been considered the greater threat and so has faced most international attention. Several Western countries including the United States and France have linked M23 with Rwanda but its government has denied the link, the paper reported.
Open Door said that Muhindo Musunzi, director of the Kombo primary school [which belongs to the CECA20 church], said that prior to this incident, churches, schools and health centres had all shut their doors because of the chaotic security situation. “We had to move all activities towards Vunying,” he said.
Field sources report that as at Tuesday 18 February, some families had not been able to bury their dead because of insecurity in the area, Open Door said. Many Christians have now fled the area for their safety.
“We don’t know what to do or how to pray; we’ve had enough of massacres,” an elder of the CECA20 church in the region told Open Door. “May God’s will alone be done”.
“This latest awful incident is a continuation of the escalating threat posed by ADF militants in the country’s north east region. In 2014, the group intensified attacks in Beni territory in North Kivu province, and since then attacks have spread to the territories of Irumu and Mambasa in Ituri province, and now it’s affecting Lubero. In the last month alone, the group have killed more than 200 people in Baswagha chiefdom,” the charity said, citing a local news website.
They said that, in 2024, 355 people had been killed in DRC for their faith whilst an estimated 10,000 were internally displaced, which is ten times more than 2023.
“Houses have been looted and burnt, schools relocated, churches and health facilities closed, and several Christian villages have been abandoned altogether,” Open Door said.
Aid to the Church in Need Ireland described the killings as a merciless slaughter.
“In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 70 Christians were mercilessly slaughtered in Kivu, between the 12th and 15th February. This massacre comes at a delicate time in the DRC, given the worsening of the humanitarian situation in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, which has seen heavy fighting between another armed group, M23 (supported by Rwanda) and the Congolese armed forces,” they said.
“The bodies of men, women, and children, were found in a Protestant church on the 15th February. Please pray for the repose of their souls, and for the souls of their murderers, that they will encounter Christ and be moved to repentance,” ACN added.
UK Mirror (C)