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Kasanga massacre

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Kasanga massacre
Part of Kivu conflict
LocationKasanga, Lubero Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
DateFebruary 12, 2025
Deaths70+
Perpetrator Islamic State - Central Africa Province

On 12 February 2025, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militants (A group with ties to so-called Islamic State (IS) entered the village of Mayba twice in Lubero Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo and abducted at least 70 Christian civilians.[1][2] The captives were subsequently taken to a Protestant church in Kasanga, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they were executed by beheading.[3][4][5]

Background

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The ADF are a Ugandan Islamist group who began an insurgency in 1996. It spread to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and intensified during the 2010s. Their attacks in North Kivu include a massacre in Beni in 2016.[6] During the late 2010s, the group began to affiliate with the Islamic State.[7] In 2020, Musa Baluku proclaimed that the ADF had ceased to exist and was succeeded by the Islamic State's Central Africa Province.[8] In North Kivu, during January 2023, the ADF carried out massacres in Kasindi[9][10], Makugwe[11] and Kirindera.[12]

In March 2023, nine people were killed and several others went missing following the armed attack carried out by ADF terrorists in the Nguli village in the Lubero territory, North Kivu.[13][14][15] In the same month, the rebels took civilians hostage in the village of Katiri in Isale Kasongwere Groupement, in the Beni territory, North Kivu.[16][17] Parenthetically, the insurgents also erected a stronghold in the Virunga National Park between the villages of Kavasewa and Karuruma.[18]

Attack

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At 4:00 am on 12 February 2025, armed members of the Allied Democratic Forces entered the village of Mayba, in Lubero Territory, North Kivu, where they ordered residents to come out of their homes. They immediately took at least 20 civilians captive and left before returning at around 6:00 pm. Upon returning the ADF militants surround the village and rounded up an additional 50 civilians.[19][20]

The captives were taken to a Protestant CECA 20 church in Kasanga, a neighbouring village near Lubero in Lubero Territory, North Kivu, where they were tied up and executed by either hammers or machetes.[1][2][3] The bodies of the massacred were found on 14 February 2025 still in the church.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b APA-Kinshasa (RDC); AC (2025-02-16). "RDC : plus de 70 civils retrouvés décapités dans une église". APAnews - Agence de Presse Africaine (in French). Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  2. ^ a b Odunewu, Olusegun (2025-02-20). "Massacre in DRC: 70 Christians beheaded in brutal Church attack by suspected ADF militants". National Daily Newspaper. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  3. ^ a b "Conflit en RD Congo : Les rebelles du M23 entrent dans la deuxième ville du pays, Bukavu". BBC News Afrique (in French). 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  4. ^ Hanlon, Tim (2025-02-14). "70 missing people found beheaded in church in grim civil war massacre". The Mirror. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  5. ^ "RDC : massacre à Lubero, plus de 70 civils tués - Afrique sur 7" (in French). 2025-02-17. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  6. ^ "Scores convicted in Congo's Beni massacre trial". Reuters. 2018-01-24. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  7. ^ "Desolation in east DR Congo village after ADF attack". France 24. 2023-03-11. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  8. ^ Caleb Weiss; Ryan O'Farrell (6 April 2022). "ADF renews pledge of allegiance to new Islamic State leader". Long War Journal. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  9. ^ "DR Congo government blames rebels for Kasindi church bombing". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-01-15. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  10. ^ "Several killed in DR Congo church bomb attack". Al Jazeera. 15 January 2023. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Suspected Islamists Kill 23 in East DR Congo Attack". Voice of America. 2023-01-23. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  12. ^ "Suspected Islamist militants kill 19 in another village raid in east Congo". Reuters. March 13, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  13. ^ "Civilians Killed in DR Congo Attacks, Fighting With M23 Rebels Flares". VOA. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  14. ^ "East Congo militants kill at least 22 in string of attacks". Reuters. 2023-03-19. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  15. ^ Times, The Brussels. "Civilians killed in eastern DR Congo amid renewed conflict in the region". www.brusselstimes.com. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  16. ^ "Beni : des rebelles ADF prennent des civils en otage à Katiri". Radio Okapi (in French). 2023-03-18. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  17. ^ "Insecurity Insight » Pharmacy looted and vandalised by suspected ADF militants". Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  18. ^ "Beni : des rebelles ADF prennent des civils en otage à Katiri". Radio Okapi (in French). 2023-03-18. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  19. ^ "70 chrétiens retrouvés décapités dans une église en RDC". Aleteia (in French). Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  20. ^ Odunewu, Olusegun (2025-02-20). "Massacre in DRC: 70 Christians beheaded in brutal Church attack by suspected ADF militants". National Daily Newspaper. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  21. ^ Hanlon, Tim; Young, Iona (2025-02-14). "Horror as 70 missing people found beheaded in church in grim DR Congo massacre". Daily Record. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
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