At least 17 Christians were killed and more than three dozen wounded in an Islamic State-linked militant bombing on a church in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Sunday. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which the “Islamic State” (IS) group claims as its affiliate in Central Africa, is active in the area of North Kivu, where the church bomb attack took place. ISIS later claimed responsibility for the attack.
DW Congolese military spokesman Antony Mualushayi said the “terrorist act” occurred at a church in the town of Kasindi, which lies on the border with neighboring Uganda.
Videos posted on social media showed bodies in the pews and blood on the floor. Another showed bloodied victims being carried and treated by bystanders outside the church.
“The security services have already taken control of the place and the injured have been evacuated to local health facilities,” Mualushayi said, adding that an investigation was underway.
“I just came back from the scene, where I saw the bodies of children on the ground,” said Kasindi resident Alain Kitsa by phone, describing the atmosphere in the town as tense.
Bomb blasts in Congo kasindi pic.twitter.com/UVmBlkiJBo
— Leevan Nyakahuma (@UncleLipro) January 16, 2023
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