Nearly 50 dead in attacks on Congolese Christian community

Local authorities suspect a Ugandan Islamic terror group has killed nearly 50 people within the past week in the predominantly Christian eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On May 6, attackers killed about 13 people in the province of Ituri, including two members of a local mission, Church on the Rock. Two days earlier, some assailants carrying machetes and axes killed as many as 34 civilians in a late-night attack, according to World Watch Monitor. Official figures revealed eight women, two of them pregnant, and four children died in the attack.

“Between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., the enemy managed to get past army positions and kill peaceful residents in their homes, slashing their throats,” local administrator Bernard Amisi Kalonda told Agence France-Press after the first attack.

Muslim Defense International, formerly known as the Alliance of Democratic Forces, has operated in the east of Congo for more than 20 years. The Ugandan rebel group launched a rebellion against Uganda’s president Yoweri Musuveni, but military offensives caused them to pull back into Congo. The terror group has killed more than 500 people in the region since 2014, according to the United Nations.

More than 95 percent of the population of the North Kivu province identifies as Christian. Due to the numerous attacks, many people have fled the region. Church on the Rock closed some if its missions and schools because of the high security risk.

“We are heartbroken, questioning our faith, half-terrified, but determined and carrying on,” Church on the Rock’s founder Mike Anticoli told World Watch Monitor. “We may be targeted due to the fact that we train local leaders and aspiring missionaries from several churches and denominations.”

The May 6 attack happened less than a mile from the Congolese army base and a UN army base. A spokesman from the Congolese army said the army could not intervene since the attack occurred at night and lasted for a short time. In an interview with local radio station Radio Okapi, Omar Kavota, the chief executive of the Study Centre for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy, and Human Rights, said international aid is needed in the region.

“In the past week, nearly 50 civilians were killed,” Kavota said. “We are asking for international solidarity that finally people in this part of the country can be safe from threats and live in peace and lasting security.”

The UN currently has a force of roughly 20,000 military personnel operating in Congo.