Attacks on Christians Surge in Congo Amid Ongoing Islamist Militant Violence

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Islamist attacks on Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are escalating, with the most recent assault targeting a funeral in the east where dozens were slaughtered.

The Christian ministry Open Doors says more than 100 Christians were killed in a recent series of attacks, led by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militant Islamist group notorious for massacres of civilians across the region. It has ties to the Islamic State.

This year alone, at least three attacks have each claimed the lives of dozens of Christians.

“May God come to our rescue, because we are fed up with these killings,” pastor Paluku Nzalamingi, parish priest of Manguredjipa in the DRC, told a local news affiliate

On Sept. 8, Christians in Ntoyo village in the eastern part of the DRC were gathering for a funeral when Allied Democratic Forces militants appeared.

“They arrived and started killing. At this funeral place, they coldly murdered 26 Christians,” pastor Mbula Samaki of the 55e CEBCE Church in Manguredjipa told Open Doors. “Those who tried to flee were shot dead and others were killed with machetes.” 

Dozens more Christians were killed the next day throughout the area. 

All total, more than 70 were killed and at least 100 kidnapped as Allied Democratic Forces militants burned 16 houses. They even torched motorcycles and vehicles. 

Around the same time, they slaughtered more than 30 farmers, Open Doors reported. 

“With machetes, they killed Christian farmers who were camped in their farms and those who were returning,” Nzalamingi said. “It is a night of sadness and desolation for Christians.”

 

Sadly, it was not the first such massacre this year.

In February, militants with the Allied Democratic Forces gathered 70 Christians in one village, took them to a church, and massacred them.

In July, another Allied Democratic Forces attack at a church resulted in at least 37 deaths -- mostly young people. 

Christians in the region are growing weary, said regional leaders who requested prayer. 

“Christians are disoriented, because it was the time when they went to harvest their padi [crop] but look what’s happening to them. We, the church, are short of what to [say to] sympathize with them,” said a pastor identified only as Rev. Alili of 3e CBCA church in Njiapanda.

“The massacres are weakening the faith of Christians. Last month it was still massacre after massacre, and in September. Lord, please come to our aid,” he told Open Doors. 

“Please, brothers and sisters, let us unite in prayer to counter the enemy. God says if He does not watch over the house, those who watch, watch in vain. Let us pray together for the Christians of the east of the DRC.”

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Vistoff

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

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