At least eight people lost their lives, and 30 were taken hostage in an attack in Beni, located in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on January 30, 2024.
Armed men, associated with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), targeted several villages in Beni and the surrounding area. They brutally executed civilians with bladed weapons, including five individuals praying in a church affiliated with the Branhamist Pentecostal community.
Nicolas Kikuku, the mayor of Oicha Commune, confirmed the tragedy, stating that eight civilians, including the Branhamist Christians killed during worship, were deposited at the Oicha hospital morgue. Darius Syahira, a local civil society spokesman, verified the attack, and the bodies are in the morgue.
Reports indicate that 30 people were also taken hostage by the assailants, known for incursions into Eastern DRC, involving burning houses, killing residents, and stealing goods.
This recent assault follows similar incidents, including an attack on January 27, 2024, where 32 people, including five parishioners, were killed in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These attacks were 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, replacing civilian authorities with military administration to combat armed groups.
The ADF, present in eastern DRC since the mid-1990s, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019, referred to as 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 carrying out atrocities.
The DRC, emerging from a tense electoral period, had experienced a few weeks of calm in its eastern provinces. However, deadly attacks have resumed in the Beni territory, where five civilians were killed on January 23 in an attack claimed by the ADF.
The ADF, accused of deadly bombings in Kampala in 2021, leading to Uganda sending troops into eastern Congo, remains a persistent threat. President Yoweri Museveni urges the ADF to surrender or face consequences, as the Uganda Peoples Defence Force has an agreement with the DRC government to pursue them anywhere.
