Islamist militants are suspected of killing more than 80 people during a week-long wave of attacks in Christian-majority North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
At least 41 died when suspected members of the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP, also known as the Allied Democratic Forces) assaulted the villages of Masala, Mapasana and Mahini overnight on 9 June.
Survivors said that many were killed as they tried to flee from militants who were armed with guns and machetes.
Another 17 people were murdered on 4 June in Masawu village. Two days later, five bodies were found in Kabweli and Mamulese communities, and a further six bodies were recovered from a river in the village of Mununze.
On 31 May, 13 bodies were found in Makobu village, bringing the grim total of people killed by suspected ISCAP militants to 82 in a week.
The Allied Democratic Forces was formed in 1995 in Uganda to overthrow the Ugandan government. The group affiliated itself to Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) in 2017.
Among the many atrocities perpetrated by ISCAP was the massacre of Christian pupils at a school in Kasese District, Uganda, in June 2023 when 42 believers died, most of them teenagers. In the same month ISCAP members hacked to death 12 people in a village in North Kivu province, DRC. Four women and four children were among the dead.
How you can pray
Ask God to wipe the tears from the eyes of the bereaved, heal the injured and meet the needs of those widowed and orphaned in the attacks. Pray that He will restrain the jihadists who continue to kill His people.
