Suspected ADF Rebels Raid Church , Slaughter 8 People , 30 Abducted

At least eight people lost their lives, and 30 were held captive during an assault in Beni, situated in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on January 30, 2024.Militants, believed to be linked with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), targeted multiple villages in Beni and its vicinity. They ruthlessly murdered civilians using bladed weapons, including five individuals found praying in a church associated with the Branhamist Pentecostal community.

Confirming the tragedy, Nicolas Kikuku, the mayor of Oicha Commune, disclosed that eight civilians, including the Branhamist Christians killed during worship, were brought to the Oicha hospital morgue. Darius Syahira, a local civil society spokesman, corroborated the attack, confirming the presence of the bodies in the morgue.

Reports suggest that 30 people were also abducted by the attackers, notorious for their incursions into Eastern DRC, characterized by arson, civilian casualties, and looting.This recent onslaught follows similar incidents, such as an assault on January 27, 2024, where 32 people, including five parishioners, lost their lives in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

These attacks have been attributed to the ADF and the Islamic State group.The provinces of North Kivu and Ituri have been under a state of emergency since 2021, with civilian authorities replaced by military administration to counter armed groups.The ADF, entrenched in eastern DRC since the mid-1990s, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019, establishing its “Central Africa Province.”

Despite joint military operations against the ADF, named “Shujaa,” launched by Kampala and Kinshasa in late 2021, the rebels persist in committing atrocities.Emerging from a tense electoral period, the DRC had experienced a few weeks of relative calm in its eastern provinces.

However, deadly attacks have resumed in the Beni territory, where five civilians were killed on January 23 in an assault claimed by the ADF.The ADF, held responsible for deadly bombings in Kampala in 2021, prompting Uganda to deploy troops into eastern Congo, remains a persistent menace.

President Yoweri Museveni recently urged the ADF to surrender or face consequences, as the Uganda Peoples Defence Force has a standing agreement with the DRC government to pursue them wherever they may be.