Islamists in the DRC kill at least 55 people: Anglican Christian pastor killed

Islamists in the DRC kill at least 55 people: Anglican Christian pastor killed

Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is blighted by ethnic and religious tensions. At the same time, serious health concerns exist. These include cholera, Ebola, HIV/AIDS, intestinal parasites, malaria, outbreaks of measles that kill in the thousands, tuberculosis, and others. Therefore, the weak infrastructure, rampant poverty, ethnic tensions, religious extremism, and regional power concentration means that the DRC faces enormous problems.

The latest massacre occurred in the eastern parts of the DRC. Thus Islamist terrorists belonging to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed at least 55 people including women and children. They also killed an Anglican Christian cleric, injured his daughter, and desecrated holy Christian books.

Reuters reports, “The army and a local civil rights group blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist armed group, for raiding the village of Tchabi and a camp for displaced people near Boga, another village. Both are close to the border of Uganda.”

The overlap of the ADF and the Islamic State in Central African Province (ISCAP) means that often attacks are reported in the name of ISCAP despite being committed by the ADF. Obviously, regional nations including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda are extremely concerned by many complex ethnic and religious issues in the DRC.

Kenya’s involvement in the DRC goes back many decades. Hence, recent developments between Kenya and the DRC are being further cemented. Sunguta West, The Jamestown Foundation, reports, “Kenya started contributing to peacekeeping missions in 1979, and an estimated 55,000 soldiers have served in missions across the world (The Standard, April 22, 2021). However, the forthcoming deployment to the DRC will increase the numbers of Kenyan forces in the country from 200 troops to 1,600 soldiers and intelligence officers. They will replace a South African contingent that was based in the DRC and will operate in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri regions. The Kenyan soldiers and intelligence officers in the DRC will further serve for a period ranging from four months to four years depending on whether they are under the Kenya–DRC security agreement or MONUSCO (Nation, May 1).”

Last year, approximately 850 people were killed by Islamist forces in the DRC. However, this figure could be higher given the remoteness of the region. Therefore, vast numbers have fled to escape the ongoing crisis.

https://jamestown.org/program/kenya-and-drc-sign-defense-pact-to-cooperate-against-islamic-state/

https://www.reuters.com/world/congo-declares-state-siege-over-eastern-bloodshed-2021-05-01/

https://twitter.com/JamestownTweets The Jamestown Foundation