Islamist terrorists have claimed the killing of 57 Christians in a week-long spate of violence in the Beni region of North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The region borders Ituri, the epicentre of the current Ebola outbreak with 260 confirmed cases out of more than 300 across north-eastern DRC.
At least two confirmed cases of Ebola virus have been declared in the Beni region.
Fighters from Islamic State Central Africa Province renew their bay’a (pledge of allegiance) to Islamic State in 2023. The group has killed nearly 6,500 Christians in north-eastern D. R. Congo since first making this pledge in 2017 [Image credit: Caleb Weiss/X]
Fighters from Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) slaughtered 16 Christians in the village of Mayangose on Sunday 31 May.
A day earlier 10 believers had been captured from the same village and subjected to an execution-style killing.
On the same day 15 Christians were killed in an ISCAP raid on the village of Buikine.
These atrocities followed the murder of 16 near the city of Oicha on 25 May.
At least 1,100 Christians killed in 18 months
ISCAP has now claimed the killing of at least 1,100 Christians in north-eastern DRC since its campaign of jihadi violence escalated in December 2024.
Its fighters will typically demand that communities convert to Islam, accept dhimmi status as subjugated (supposedly protected people), or face death.
In classical Islam, Christians and Jews (regarded as “people of the book”) have the option of becoming dhimmi and living under Islamic rule. Accepting such a status involves following many humiliating rules and regulations, including paying the jizya tax.
The region of Beni, North Kivu, was the epicentre of the 2018-2020 Ebola epidemic that caused 2,266 deaths in D. R. Congo [Image credit: Vincent Tremeau/Flickr]
In early May, after the massacre of around 60 Christians (also in the Beni region), a statement published on Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) social media channels declared, “Let the worshippers of the cross know that they have no security except by submitting willingly or paying the jizya in humiliation.”
A recent report highlighted the “extensive brutality” carried out by ISCAP (formerly known as the Allied Democratic Forces or ADF), including mass killings, forced labour, torture, abuse and sexual violence.
Similar atrocities have been carried out by members of the M23 rebel movement, who are assessed as having killed between 900 and 2,000 people solely in their 2025 attack on Goma, then the provincial capital of North Kivu.
Instability caused by ISCAP, M23 and other armed groups is severely hampering emergency response efforts following confirmation of the Ebola outbreak on 15 May.
More than 200 people are believed to have died from Ebola in north-eastern DRC.
How you can pray
Ask the Lord to break the power of Islamists who terrorise and threaten His people across north-eastern D. R. Congo. Pray for an end to all armed conflict in the region. Pray also for the success of efforts to contain the Ebola virus and for the treatment of those who have contracted the illness.
