DRC (International Christian Concern) – Between Sunday, March 13, and Monday, March 14, armed insurgents killed 52 people in attacks on the Irumu province in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).   

In an interview for HumAngle Media, Christophe Munyanderu, local coordinator of the Convention for the Respect of Human Rights (CRDH) in Irumu, said of the Sunday attack, “The villages attacked were Carriere where eight civilians were lost, Apakoluy where four civilians were killed, Apamayaya recorded two deaths, and Kimautu where five deaths were reported.” 

He continued, “On Monday, March 15, Apende and Ndimo villages were also targets of ADF attacks resulting in 18 and 15 civilian deaths, respectively. In total, 52 civilians were killed between Sunday and Monday.”   

For years, dozens of armed militias have wreaked havoc in the DRC, a predominately Christian nation. The largest among these groups is the ADF, an affiliate of ISIS who aims to create an Islamic Caliphate in Central Africa. 

A senior military official, asking to remain anonymous, expressed his frustration about the most recent attacks. He said, “Fifty-two civilians is a very high death toll. It hurts to the core. If all the alerts by the civilian population were taken into consideration, the ADF would not have killed that many civilians.”