Attacks by Islamist militants in North Kivu, north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have left at least 72 dead.
Thirty-five were killed in a series of armed assaults by Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP, also known as Allied Democratic Forces) on villages in Mamove district on 23 July.
At least 20 had been found beheaded in the villages of Katerain, Kota Okola, and Nzakiya following the attacks. A further 15 bodies were discovered two days later.
ISCAP had already killed at least 37 people in an attack in the village of Kazor, also in Mamove district, on 17 July.
Local civic leader Kinos Katuho reported that nine houses and several motorcycles were burned.
Katuho said he had alerted the authorities to the presence of militants in the area. Their failure to respond, he maintained, contributed to the scale of the incident. It is feared that many residents were abducted.
An estimated 5,500 people have been killed by ISCAP in Christian-majority DRC since 2017. The violence is most acute in the north-eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, which have been in an official state of emergency since May 2021.
Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) is active in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, with fighters travelling between theatres of conflict such as North Kivu and Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province.
Ask the Lord to comfort those who have been bereaved in these attacks and pray that any residents abducted will be released. Pray for Christians’ faith to stand firm as they face such trials and for an end to the violence.
