..
Christians in DRC in ‘despair and disillusionment’ after spate of attacks
kills at least 30 believers
Open Doors, October 26, 2023:
Christians in the town of Oicha in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are reeling after at least 30 believers, including children, were killed in recent incidents.
On Tuesday (24 October), armed men stormed Masosi, a Christian neighbourhood in Oicha, North Kivu province. “When the people heard gunshots at the beginning, they thought thieves had come into the village, which is not unusual,” shares Mumbere, a local Christian youth leader. “But when the cracking of bullets lasted for an hour, they then knew it was the ADF [Allied Democratic Forces, which has links to so-called Islamic State.]”
Christians were killed as they began to run for safety. Those who could not flee were burnt in their houses. At least 26 bodies, including those of 12 children, have been identified, but the death toll may be higher with many Christians reported missing. Shops were also looted. Masosi has been emptied of its population, with most fleeing to safer neighbourhoods….
“The Christian population of Oicha is in despair and disillusionment,” says a field source. “They are losing hope. It is said that during the protest, some Christians questioned the safety God promises His children. This situation, like previous incidents, can cause Christians to resort to traditional religions in search of protection for their families.”
These incidents are amongst many in the eastern North Kivu province of DRC, making it a place of extreme danger for Christians to live. The country is number 37 on the World Watch List and one of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa facing where believers are experiencing increased persecution by Islamic militants.
Please continue to pray urgently for our brothers and sisters in the region.
We Found 80 Corpses, 20 Headless Bodies Within 48 Hours
At Abia Cattle Market —Anambra Governor, Otti
Sahara Reporters, October 30, 2023:
Otti revealed this during the monthly media parley at the Government House, Umuahia, during which he reinstated his government’s commitment to end all forms of criminality in the state….
According to Otti, security information revealed that ransom payments for kidnapped victims were always dropped near Umuchieze Cattle Market in Lokpanta.
He was quoted by NAN saying: “We installed electronic equipment to find out what is happening in every part of the state.
“A few weeks ago, we found that a lot of the ransom that was paid for kidnapping ended up somewhere around Umunneochi LGA.
“We decided to dominate the place and what we saw was shocking.
“In less than 48 hours, we recovered over 80 dead bodies around the cattle market, and we recovered 20 headless bodies decomposing bodies which include adults and children.
“We recovered uncountable skeletons of people who had been killed and left to decompose still around that axis.”…
Robert Spencer reports that his contact in Nigeria blamed Fulani herdsmen (Muslim terrorists) for the slaughter. I have no reason to doubt this.
Anambra State is a long way south in Nigeria for Islamic terrorism to be rearing its ugly head. They are making progress.
Anambra State, Nigeria
Muslim Extremists Suspected of Killing Tourists, Beating Christian
Morning Star News, October 20, 2023:
…In western Uganda’s massive Queen Elizabeth National Park, a Ugandan Christian tour guide, Eric Alyai, and a foreign married couple were shot to death on Tuesday (Oct. 17) by suspected Islamic terrorists of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in Kasese District, sources said.
Alyai, 40, British tourist David Barlow and his South African wife, 51-year-old Celia Barlow, were killed at 6:30 p.m. along the park’s Katwe Road between L. Nyamununka and Kabatooro, according to security agencies.
An area resident who witnessed that attack while fetching firewood told Morning Star News that she heard the sound of bullets and hid. When the Muslim extremists approached the tourists’ vehicle, they shouted, “We know you are the people who are supporting Christians in Uganda and coming in the name of tourists,” according to the resident, whose name is withheld for security reasons.
“Then and there they fired on them and then later burnt the vehicle to ashes,” the source told Morning Star News.
Alyai was known to take tourists to Christian-owned hotels in Kasese, which helped generate income for the local church, and he also took Christian tourists to churches in Kasese, sources said.
Authorities suspected ADF terrorists in the killing, according to security group Crisis24. Originally based in western Uganda, the ADF has operated in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu Province since the late 1990s.
The ADF is considered one of the most lethal of more than 120 armed groups in the eastern DRC. In 2019 the ADF split into two factions, with one merging into the Islamic State Central Africa Province. The U.S. government in 2021 designated the ADF as a foreign terrorist organization with links to the Islamic State….
No comments:
Post a Comment