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CHRISTIAN persecution is on the rise in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a new group of militants tied up and hacked to death 35 people in one of the deadliest attack in the village of Rwangoma near Beni. The Islamist militant group Allied Democratic Forces–National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU) has been trying to eradicate Christians from DRC’s north-eastern regions, and they carried out their latest atrocity in the region on the evening of Aug 13. They have been attacking, raping, looting, kidnapping, and murdering believers almost every week, raising fears that a new jihadist group in central Africa has been established, the World Watch Monitor (WWM) reports.
ADF-NALU was originally formed to overthrow the Ugandan government and establish an Islamist fundamentalist state. The militant group was later forced to move near the border with DRC.
In November 2015, the ADF attacked the town of Eringeti, a town which was once considered a safer place than the outlying villages but is now part of the no-go zone in the province.
A local pastor named Kiveroi told WWM that the assailants killed more than 20 and torched over 50 houses in about two hours. They also looted the establishments and burned the market, including the surrounding homes.
On July 30, the ADF attacked the village of Oicha in the North-Kivu province, leaving seven people dead, including two Congolese soldiers and three of the attackers.
Residents later learned that the aim of the attack was to steal medicines from a Protestant mission.
As a result of the attack in Oicha, 350 families have been displaced from their homes and were forced to live in classrooms and host families.
In the eastern region of DRC, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have noted that 1,116 have been killed from October 2014 to May 2016.
There are also 1,470 recorded kidnappings and more than 34,000 families have been displaced.
Local NGOs have appealed to President Joseph Kabila to address the ongoing killings, but the violence in the region still rages on-Christian Today
Online Reporter