Dozens of Christians hacked to death in DR Congo, thousands flee

Around 40 Christians were hacked to death in a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu provice, prompting thousands of people to flee the area. The attacks reportedly started late on May 3.

"Between 20:00 and 22:00 [local time] the enemy managed to get past army positions and kill peaceful residents in their homes, slashing their throats," local administrator Bernard Amisi Kalonda told Agence France-Presse. "The 16 bodies are in front of me, killed by machete or axe."

Adona Lesse, head of Eringeti village, also told AFP that they heard gunshots and people shouting at around 8 p.m. A local missionary, meanwhile, told persecution watchdog World Watch Monitor on May 4 that people fled the area in the Beni region by the thousands.

"It was eerie; hundreds of houses abandoned and thousands of people displaced," the missionary said. "I saw four coffins and a funeral or two on the road. I saw people carrying their mattresses and things in cars, on motorcycles, on foot. Hundreds of homes along the road are abandoned. Where there was thriving community, there is now a ghost town."

United Nations' General Jean Baillaud gave the initial death count as 17, but World Watch Monitor estimates the casualties to be somewhere between 20 and 40. On May 6, the group's local source estimated 34 deaths while another said it could 38, although as of May 7, the exact number has not been determined. Two elders of the Communauté Evangélique au Centre de l'Afrique and their wives are said to be among those who were killed.

World Watch Monitor says that 95.8 percent of the local population is Christian, many of whom are afraid and are thinking of fleeing again. There are still those, however, who are holding on to hope that things would get better and have chosen to stay.

Kalonda was not able to give details on who the perpetrators were or if they were Ugandan rebels connected with the Muslim Defense International aka Allied Democratic Forces. The ADF has been rebelling against President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda for more than two decades, but was pushed back into the DRC where they have been active in the eastern region. The ADF rebels are accused of having been responsible for attacks in the Beni and Ituri regions, resulting to at least 500 known civilian deaths since 2014, according to the U.N.

"Such attacks on civilians are a clear violation of international human rights and humanitarian law," said the U.N. secretary general in November last year.