New militant group suspected in Congo sectarian attacks, killing of 36 Christians
At least 36 Christians, possibly more, died from Saturday's sectarian attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo suspected to be carried out by a new yet unknown militant group.
According to World Watch Monitor, a rising jihadist group, other than the infamous Islamist militia Allied Democratic Forces-National Association for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU), might be behind the attack on the Rwangoma village, near the town of Beni, considered the deadliest sectarian attack since November 2014. The suspected new rebel group tied up their victims and hacked them to death.
Omar Kavota, executive director of the Centre of Study for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy, and Human Rights, reportedly said that sources accounted the dead to be at 50.
Meanwhile, Congo's military points the blame to the ADF and suspects that the attack might have been carried out as retaliation for the recent military operations in the area. Congolese President Joseph Kabila declared the successive three days since Saturday night's massacre as national days of mourning.
Hundreds of Beni residents reportedly took to protest afterward to decry Kabila's failure to prevent the massacre and protect the people. The crime happened only three days after Kabila visited the region and vowed to ensure peace and security.
"We do not understand why this is happening to us," a local pastor named Jean told an aid worker for Open Doors International (ODI). "The rebels just take people into the bush to kill them or kidnap them. They attack one place for a while and cause people to run away. Then they strike the places people run to."
A local pastor named Awuzo described how he and his wife with their seven children keep going back and forth from their home to an Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp.
"When it is [tense], we are forced to leave, and when things get calm we return," Awuzo said. "That's how we live now. We are always alert, always ready to leave at a moment's notice."