Key points:
- At least 13 civilians, including a faithful United Methodist woman and two of her children, were killed in an attack by the Allied Democratic Forces, an armed rebel group operating in eastern Congo, local authorities say.
- The security situation in the region has continued to deteriorate over the past two decades.
- United Methodist Bishop Gabriel Yemba Unda expressed his compassion and solidarity and strongly condemned the acts of violence.
At least 13 civilians, including a faithful United Methodist woman and two of her children, were killed in the latest violence in Ituri province in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Local authorities attribute the Feb. 17-18 attack in the village of Komanda to the Allied Democratic Forces, an armed rebel group operating in eastern Congo and Uganda. Several other people were wounded in the chiefdoms of Banyali-Tchabi and Walese Vonkutu, said Germain Masinda Mukosasenge, Beni District superintendent in the Kivu Conference.
He said three United Methodists were executed overnight, including Maman Kavuo Pilipili, the president of United Methodist Women at Komanda United Methodist Church, and two of her sons, ages 5 and 7.
Civilians have been targeted in their homes, and the death toll is likely higher because some people are missing, Masinda said.
Violence has been brewing for years in eastern Congo, where some 120 armed groups are fighting for power, land, minerals or the security of their communities.
In recent years, attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces have intensified and spread to Goma, the main city in eastern Congo, as well as to Ituri province.
“Several other United Methodist faithful have lost household goods to the ADF, who have also been looting,” Masinda said.
Bishop Gabriel Yemba Unda, resident bishop of The United Methodist Church in Eastern Congo, expressed compassion for and solidarity with the victims’ families.
He strongly condemned the violence and shared his deep indignation at the cruelty and inhumanity of the perpetrators.
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The security situation in eastern Congo has continued to deteriorate over the past two decades. Alongside the Allied Democratic Forces, another rebel group, M23, has resumed hostilities and extended its control in the province of North Kivu.
The situation has led to the displacement of thousands of people.
The Rev. Henry Jean Robert Kasongo Numbize, the bishop's delegate to the Kivu Conference, said he is weary of seeing God's creatures being killed every day.
“We are tired of the killings and attacks from Rwanda under the label of the M23, which are slowing down even the development of the region,” Numbize said. “We implore divine grace for the victims of these atrocities in North Kivu, Ituri and South Kivu.”
The local United Methodist church in Komanda, to which the victims belonged, has over 350 members.
Masika Malisaba, president of the women’s organization in the Beni District, said she regrets the death of her fellow leader, who contributed so much to the advancement of evangelism in the church.
“Mother Kavuo Pilipili has just left behind six orphans and a widower,” Masika said. “She will be sorely missed in the Beni District and in the Komanda local United Methodist church for her great contribution to the advancement of God’s work.”
District superintendent Masinda also noted that it is a great loss for the church. He said he plans to meet the faithful in Komanda village in March as part of his pastoral visits to the district.
Numbize urged the parties to the conflicts to look for other means of claiming their rights, instead of taking up arms and killing people.
“Today we have thousands of displaced people in Goma who lack shelter and food because of the violence,” Numbize said. “It’s time to focus on peace, without which nothing can move forward.”
Unda called on all United Methodists to mobilize for the return of lasting peace to the region.
Kituka Lolonga is a communicator in the Kivu Annual Conference.
News media contact: Julie Dwyer, news editor, [email protected] or 615-742-5469. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free daily or weekly Digests
