Islamists have claimed the killing of another 40 Christians in multiple attacks in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
These attacks took place in a two-week period from mid-September onwards.
The worst single incident was an ambush in Beni District, North Kivu Province, on 26 September. According to the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP), “This led to the killing of at least nine Christians, and the burning of a truck and three motorcycles, praise be to God.”
A mass burial for the victims of an Islamic State Central Africa Province attack on a church in Komanda, Ituri Province, in August
Most of the deaths were recorded in the Beni and Lubero districts of North Kivu, where ISCAP is most active.
Earlier in September, as many as 102 Christians were slaughtered in an ISCAP raid on Ntoyo village in Lubero.
ISCAP has now claimed the killing of at least 590 “infidel Christians” since Christmas 2024.
In a propaganda film, also published in September, ISCAP boast of having “ignited wars on the Christians and their armies in the DRC and Uganda over the past decade, killing them, expelling them, setting fire to their churches and barracks, and cutting off their means of trade”.
Read more: Islamic State is still active – and Christians are in the firing line
The film, analysed by the Middle East Media Research Institute, also documents ISCAP’s efforts to coerce members of Christian communities to convert to Islam. Barnabas Aid contacts have reported that believers who refuse to convert are killed.
An ISCAP spokesman reminds “the infidel media” that the group should no longer be referred to by its former name of Allied Democratic Forces, instead highlighting its commitment to Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh).
“We are its soldiers,” declares the spokesman, “fighting under the flag of the Islamic State and the Caliph. And the Islamic State is fighting on the prophetic methodology, on the way of the Prophet Muhammad.”
How you can pray
Ask the Lord, who holds His enemies in derision (Psalm 2:4), to comfort His people with the knowledge that in Christ they have the victory over the forces of evil. Pray for an end to the Islamic State insurgency in north-eastern DRC, and ask the Lord to provide for the needs of our suffering brothers and sisters.
