More than 20 Christians were killed last month in targeted attacks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The pro-Islamic Allied Democratic Forces attacked three communities in mid-July, killing more than 20 people, according to Persecution.org.
The mostly Christian commune of Mangina was hit twice. Mangina Mayor Nicolas Kambale said attackers were “wielding knives and firearms” and sought to kill Christians and torch their homes.
Six people, including a church elder and a worship leader, were killed in the first attack, which left six people injured and one person missing.
Ten people were killed in the second attack.
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Victims have said that the ADC Islamic extremist group wants to wipe out Christians in the region.
The group Open Doors ranks the DRC as the 29th most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian.
“Activities have slowed down,” Pastor Nkulu of Mangina said, according to OpenDoorsUK.
“Fear is increasing. Brothers and sisters, please intercede for the safety of the rural commune of Mangina and for the strengthening of the faith of Christians,” he said.
Open Doors reported that in addition to the two attacks on Mangina, Islamic terrorists attacked an area west of the city of Beni, killing seven residents and three soldiers from the Congolese Armed Forces.
The ADF is known to have links to the Islamic State.
OpenDoors noted that in the eastern DRC, Christians face “severe persecution.”
“DRC’s eastern region has become a hotspot for severe persecution, with the ADF — an Islamist extremist group with ties to so-called Islamic State (IS) — deliberately targeting Christian communities through massacres, kidnapping and the destruction of churches. According to many victims, the atrocities are intended to eradicate the presence of Christians,” it said.
The organization said Christian converts endure “social rejection, pressure to recant their faith, and exclusion from inheritance and community life. Refusal to perform traditional rites often results in intimidation.”
“Meanwhile, Catholic and Protestant church leaders who speak against state corruption or advocate for constitutional rights risk threats, surveillance and harassment. Church activities are disrupted, and clergy publicly vilified. This contributes to a climate of fear in which calls for justice are systematically silenced,” the group said.
“Civilians in the eastern DRC have suffered extensive brutality at the hands of ADF fighters. They have been killed, abducted and tortured in a dehumanizing campaign of abuse,” Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said.
“ADF fighters have raided communities and farms, attacked medical facilities, and looted and burned homes. The ADF’s violence is contributing to an escalating humanitarian crisis. The group’s attacks have increased displacement and disrupted basic services, including access to food, health care and education,” she said, adding, “These abuses constitute war crimes which the world must not continue to ignore. As part of widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population, they also amount to crimes against humanity.”
This article originally appeared on The Western Journal and is reposted with permission.
