Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Armed groups are targeting civilians

Islamic oppression DRC | 12 September 2022

As the security situation continued to deteriorate in August 2022 in eastern DRC, radical Islamic groups like ADF are expanding.

The security situation for Christians living in eastern DRC is worsening with a variety of armed groups deliberately spreading fear and terror through their indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population. Recent attacks in August are listed below:

31 August 2022: 14 civilians and 19 others were killed in an attack carried out by rebels belonging to the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) on the town of Mongbwalu in Ituri province (Daily Sabah, 3 September 2022).
29-30 August 2022: Militants belonging to Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) are reported to have killed at least 14 civilians in the villages of Alima and Laliya in Ituri province. In a separate attack attributed to ADF fighters, 10 civilians were killed in two villages in west Oicha, the chief town of Beni territory in eastern North Kivu (HumAngle, 1 September 2022).
29 August 2022: Five civilians were killed in an attack carried out by ADF on Beu-Manyama village, about 20km to the northeast of Oicha in Beni territory of North Kivu. Some of the victims were hacked to death with machetes (HumAngle, 30 August 2022).
26-28 August 2022: A total of 14 civilians and 2 soldiers were killed (and at least 6 were decapitated) during three days of attacks by armed groups, including the Mai-Mai militia, CODECO and ADF at various locations in Ituri and North Kivu provinces (HumAngle, 29 August 2022).

World Watch Research analyst Yonas Dembele comments: “As the security continues to deteriorate in eastern DRC, this will allow radical Islamic groups like ADF to expand and grow stronger in their capability to launch targeted attacks against Christians.”