More
than 10 Christians were killed on Tuesday, June 21, when an Islamist
extremist group ambushed their three vehicles in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC).
The attack occurred near the village of
Makisabo, Beni. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist
extremist group, allegedly blocked the road, shot all the passengers,
and set the vehicles on fire.
Activities along the Beni-Kasindi
Road have since been halted. International Christian Concern (ICC) spoke
to one of the taxi operators along this route, which is the only
corridor connecting Uganda and the eastern region of the DRC.
“The
5 p.m. incident led to the death of our fellow drivers and our
customers who wanted to reach home and be with their families,” said the taxi operator. “We
are saddened that the ADF rebels continue to make our lives difficult
here in Congo. There is no single day that they do not kill people. The
villages are unsafe. The roads are unsafe. The towns are unsafe. We only
live by God’s mercy. Now we cannot work because they have attacked
Makisabo. We don’t know how long this will take before the road is
opened again.”
This attack comes a day after the East
African Community (EAC) heads of state convened in Nairobi, Kenya, led
by its chair, President Uhuru Kenyatta, to discuss the security
situation in the eastern region of the DRC. The participants agreed to
accelerate regional efforts to “attain sustainable peace and security in Eastern DRC,” deploy more forces to conduct joint operations with the Congolese military, and call for a disarmament “exercise in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.”
Church leaders have condemned the attack, calling it an atrocity against Christians.
“We know the war situation in Congo is complex, but we cannot ignore the fact that the rebel groups are targeting Christians,” explained a local bishop. “We
have evidence that the killers have established ties with [the] Islamic
State (ISIS) and survivors have confessed to us that they were asked to
recite the shahada if they wanted to survive. We have pastors that have
been killed for refusing to deny Christ and get Islamized. We are
asking for prayers and support to take care of millions of refugees,
widows, and orphans.”
On Friday, June 17, while traversing
the war-torn zone of Beni territory, ICC staff witnessed the aftermath
of a fresh attack on travelers. They saw that a vehicle had been
ambushed and set on fire along the Beni-Butembo Road. All five
passengers were also killed.
ICC’s representative reported, “The
ADF rebels had laid siege on the same road we were driving through, and
we drove past the scene of the attack when the burnt bodies had been
collected and the car shell was still smoking. As scary as it was, we
sympathized with the residents and prayed for the affected families.”
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Wack Muslims now terrorize the DRC
Friday, June 17, 2022
Muslims revert to mob action in Turkey
CCTV video footage
shows several Muslims attacking an Assyrian Christian family in
Turkey’s Mardin village. After the attackers beat the family with
sticks, they set their wheat fields on fire. The Yilmaz family members
are the only remaining Christians living in the area, and the attack
occurred at the end of Sunday service on June 5.
According to
reports, approximately 50 Muslims were involved in the attack. The
incident took place on the same day that priests traveled to the village
to lead mass and inaugurate the Mor Gevargis Church after restoration
work began in 2015. The church had reportedly been closed for 100 years,
a timeline which means that the church was impacted by the genocide
against Christians in Turkey during the early 20th century.
The family told Asia News, “They
threatened us, saying that they would not allow us to live in the
village. But we are not scared. We will continue to stay here.”
A pastor who attended the reopening ceremony shared with local news,
“When we got home, we learned that there was a land dispute with the
Yılmaz family; someone from the family came and this issue was brought
up again in the conversations at home, and a discussion broke out. We
prevented the discussion from escalating, but shortly after the person
in question left the house, there was an attack on the house with stones
and sticks.”
Some observers of the incident related that
the core of this situation is a property dispute. These types of
disputes have a long history in Mardin. The genocide removed most
Christians living in the region, which in turn created new challenges
related to property maintenance and titled ownership of churches and the
surrounding land.
The State Department noted in its 2020 Religious Freedom Report that
“U.S. government officials urged the government to implement reforms
aimed at lifting restrictions on religious groups and raised the issue
of property restitution and restoration. Embassy staff continued to
press for the restitution of church properties expropriated in
Diyarbakir and Mardin.”
In its most recent annual report,
the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
recommended that Turkey be placed on the Special Watch List for
religious freedom violators.
Jeff King, ICC’s president, said, “The
pressures faced by Christians living in eastern Turkey can be quite
significant. Today, many families are the only Christians left in their
village, whereas the village used to be entirely or significantly
Christian before the genocide. As a result, they often come under
pressure from their neighbors. Sometimes, this takes the form of a land
dispute; sometimes, it takes the form of more direct violence.
Regardless, the churches in the area stand as a testimony to the
Christian presence which once thrived. And today, it is clear that
Christians in eastern Turkey are not thriving.”
Sunday, June 5, 2022
If you thought that Muslims could not go any lower...
Gunmen
burst into a Catholic Church in Nigeria on Sunday morning and opened
fire on congregants and set off explosives, reportedly killing dozens of
worshippers as they celebrated Mass on Pentecost Sunday.
The
attack occurred on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, in Ondo State, in
the southwest part of the country that rarely sees this kind of
violence more common in Central Nigeria.
Disturbing video
footage of the scene obtained by International Christian Concern showed
bodies lying between pews as worshippers wailed in mourning.
Legislator
Adelegbe Timileyin, who represents the Owo area in Nigeria's lower
legislative chamber, told local media outlets that at least 50 people
had been killed. Local officials, however, had not yet released the
total number killed or injured.
Ondo State Governor Rotimi
Akeredolu posted remarks on twitter, saying, “This vile and satanic
attack is a calculated assault on the peace-loving people of Owo Kingdom
who have enjoyed relative peace over the years.… I appeal to our people
to maintain calm and let the security agencies take charge … the
perpetrators will never escape. We are after them. And I can assure you
we will get them.”
While radical Fulani militants have terrorized
the Middle Belt region of Nigeria over the past two decades,
authorities are still investigating the source of Sunday’s attack.
ICC staff in Nigeria will provide further details as they come in.