At least ten people were killed in the attack on a church in the village of Kasindi. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, bandits burned down a vicarage.
At least ten people were killed and 39 injured in a bomb attack on a church in the Congolese crisis region of North Kivu. The killing in Kasindi was carried out during a christening, a military spokesman said on Sunday. A Kenyan citizen was arrested. The government blamed the attack on the Islamic State militia ADF, which classifies the United States as a global terrorist organization as an offshoot of the Islamic State (IS) militia.
According to the Site Intelligence Group, which specializes in extremist propaganda, the IS branch “Province of Central Africa” (ISCAP) claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorists threatened further attacks, the site’s director, Rita Katz, wrote on Twitter in the evening.
Several militias are active in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has a population of around 90 million. They are primarily concerned with controlling valuable natural resources such as copper, cobalt, gold and diamonds. The ADF rebel group, founded in neighboring Uganda, regularly carries out bloody attacks in eastern Congo.
Nigerian Vicariate Burned Down
Bandits also burned down a vicarage in Nigeria, killing a Catholic priest. According to local security forces, the unknown criminals tried to break into the vicariate in the town of Kafin-Koro in Niger state on Sunday morning. Unable to do so due to the building’s security measures, they set the house on fire, a police spokesman said, according to the Daily Trust newspaper.
Father Isaac Achi, of the local Peter and Paul Parish of the Diocese of Minna, died in the fire, according to sources. Another priest who tried to flee was shot by the attackers. He was taken to a hospital. The criminals managed to escape before security forces arrived.
(APA/dpa)