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ISIS kills dozens of Christians in DRC; churches close after latest attacks
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for killing dozens of people in a series of violent attacks lasting multiple days in several villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with at least 80 Christians reportedly among the dead, military and local sources say.
The series of attacks saw one of its deadliest days on June 7, when suspected militants from the Islamic State-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces launched coordinated assaults on several villages in the Beni territory of the Christian-majority North Kivu province.
On Friday, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack that killed over 40 people in the village of Mayikengo in Lubero territory earlier in the week. Citing figures from local authorities, Agence France-Presse reports that nearly 150 people have been killed since the beginning of June by the Allied Democratic Forces.
Open Doors, a watchdog organization monitoring the persecution of Christians in over 60 countries, responded to the attacks in a statement shared with The Christian Post, saying that of those killed, at least 80 were Christians. While ADF attacks in DRC are not new, Open Doors reports that the recent violence is “comparatively deadlier” and particularly more “aggressive in targeting Christians” than in previous years.
“Christians are forced to flee, and some churches in the affected villages have closed as a result of the latest attacks. These unabated attacks come at a time when Christian farmers were preparing for harvest,” said Open Doors US CEO Ryan Brown.
“The impact is that many families are without means to feed their families, and the unprepared displacement has put pressure on the livelihood of Christian families now on the move to unknown destinations.”
Over a dozen armed groups and 100 criminal gangs and militias operate in eastern DRC, according to the U.S. State Department. ADF, which is also referred to as Islamic State’s Central Africa Province and sometimes called ISIS-DRC, was designated by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization in 2021. The group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2017 after operating in the DRC for years.
“ISIS-DRC historically relied on local resources and on former leader Jamil Mukulu’s international connections to raise funds but has received funding from ISIS-linked financing networks since 2017,” a State Department factsheet notes. “About one-third of ISIS-DRC members, including its top leaders, are of Ugandan origin.”
The Open Doors World Watch List ranks DRC as the 41st most dangerous country for Christians, with the eastern regions facing acute threats from Islamic militants, organized crime and local armed factions. The group called for increased international support and a concerted effort to address the crisis affecting Christian communities.
“The rate at which Christian communities continue to be attacked in eastern DRC by the ADF is horrifying. These attacks continue unabated, displacing thousands of people from their homes, farmlands and livelihoods,” said Jo Newhouse, Open Doors’ field spokesperson for Sub-Saharan Africa. “We call on the international community to do everything in its power to ensure the government of DRC faithfully and transparently protects all affected communities and that the displaced receive the support they need in these circumstances.”
Last week, on the night of June 7, 41 people were killed and several injured, underscoring a grim tally of over 80 fatalities in just four days, Lieutenant-Colonel Mak Hazukay, a spokesman for the Congolese army, told Reuters.
The villages of Masala, Mapasana and Mahini bore the brunt of the onslaught, with armed men using guns and machetes in a brutal rampage. Fabien Kakule, a local official, told Reuters that residents were indiscriminately attacked, and a local health center was set ablaze.
In addition, 11 bodies were discovered in the villages of Kabweli, Mamulese and Mununze. Later, 13 more bodies were found in the village of Makobu, as reported by local leaders and civil society members engaged in the search and recovery of bodies.
In addition to the killings, nine people suffered injuries during the attacks.
The ADF, originally a rebel group from Uganda, has significantly expanded its base of operations in eastern Congo.
According to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, ADF has become the deadliest threat to civilians in the region, with over 1,000 reported fatalities last year alone. Their strategic positions have also facilitated increased cross-border attacks into Uganda.
EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Nabila Massrali told Reuters that terror groups “are taking advantage of the chaos to expand their hold on an already very unstable region,” stressing the need for a political solution to combat the rising tide of extremism and violence.
Former North Kivu Gov. Julien Paluku took to social media to express concern over the national government’s response, or lack thereof, to the escalating violence.
“People have the impression, rightly or wrongly, of being abandoned to their sad fate,” he was quoted as stating.
Sources:Christian Post
China — In statements on social media and state-owned media platforms, China is celebrating an increase in government persecution of religious minorities in 2024.
The Chinese government views religious freedom as a threat to the exclusive loyalty it believes is owed to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules the country, and broadly labels non-state religious groups as cults regardless of their actual beliefs.
“China’s public security authorities intensified efforts to dismantle cult organizations in 2024,” the Global Times, a media outlet run by the CCP, reported last month. “They have worked to curb the growth and spread of cult organizations, mitigating potential threats to national political security and maintaining social stability.”
The word rendered as “cult” in the Global Times report is xie jiao, an amorphous term apparently dating back to the Ming Dynasty. It was used to designate movements or beliefs deemed anti-government or that failed to comply with the strict principles of the CCP.
In a statement on the Chinese messaging app and social media platform WeChat, China’s Ministry of Public Security boasted of increased spending on technology and manpower to combat independent religious organizations in a repressive campaign that has included crackdowns on the independent Christian house church movement.
China is known to have forced abortions on its citizens, sterilized women without their consent, and murdered religious minorities to sell their organs on the black market. Christian home churches are an attempt to escape government scrutiny, but even they are often raided and their members arrested on charges of working against the interests of the state.
China is a world leader in the use of technology to surveil and repress its citizens. While the full extent of its surveillance apparatus is unknown, research has shown that it operates a system that aims to track every citizen’s movement to gain insight into their loyalty to the CCP. From mundane details like what a person wears to larger observations like who they associate with, the system works to track and understand the loyalty of each citizen.
Chinese government officials use the data captured by this system to track and control those it deems a danger to the state. Notably, this includes anybody associated with the unregistered house church movement and anyone else who might desire to practice religion outside the confines of the state-run institutions.
Sources:persecution
നൈജീരിയയിലെ ഔച്ചി കത്തോലിക്കാ രൂപതയിലെ ഇടവക റെക്ടറിയിൽ നിന്ന് ഫാ. ഫിലിപ്പ് എക്വേലിയെയും ഒരു വൈദികാർഥിയെയും അക്രമികൾ തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോയി. “എഡോ സ്റ്റേറ്റിലെ എറ്റ്സാക്കോ ഈസ്റ്റ് എൽ ജി എ യിലെ ഇവിയുഖുവ-അജെനെബോഡിലുള്ള സെന്റ് പീറ്റർ കത്തോലിക്കാ പള്ളിയിലെ വൈദികരുടെ റെക്ടറിയും പള്ളിയും തോക്കുധാരികൾ ആക്രമിച്ചു” – മാർച്ച് നാലിന് പുറത്തിറക്കിയ ഒരു പ്രസ്താവനയിൽ നൈജീരിയൻ രൂപതയുടെ കമ്മ്യൂണിക്കേഷൻ ഡയറക്ടർ ഫാ. പീറ്റർ എഗിലെവ പറയുന്നു.
“റെക്ടറിയിലെയും പള്ളിയിലെയും വാതിലുകളും ജനലുകളും അക്രമികൾ വെടിവച്ച് തകർത്തു. തുടർന്ന് ഫാ. ഫിലിപ്പ് എക്വേലിയെയും മേജർ സെമിനാരി വിദ്യാർഥിയെയും തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോകുകയായിരുന്നു. അക്രമികൾ ആയുധങ്ങൾ കാട്ടി ഭീഷണിപ്പെടുത്തിയാണ് അവരെ വനത്തിലേക്ക് കൊണ്ടുപോയത്” – ഫാ. എഗിലെവ വിവരിക്കുന്നു. തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോകപ്പെട്ടവരുമായി ഇതുവരെ യാതൊരു ആശയവിനിമയവും നടന്നിട്ടില്ലെന്ന് ഫാ. എഗിലെവ പറയുന്നു. തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോകപ്പെട്ടവർ പരിക്കേൽക്കാതെ മോചിതരാകുന്നതിനായി എല്ലാവരും പ്രാർഥിക്കണമെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം അഭ്യർഥിച്ചു.
2003 ഫെബ്രുവരി 22-ന് ഉദ്ഘാടനം ചെയ്യപ്പെട്ട ഔച്ചി കത്തോലിക്കാ രൂപത, അതിന്റെ ഉദ്ഘാടനത്തിന്റെ ഇരുപത്തിരണ്ടാം വാർഷികം ആഘോഷിച്ചത് അടുത്തിടെയാണ്. കഴിഞ്ഞ 5 വർഷത്തിനുള്ളിൽ, ഈ രൂപതയിലെ എട്ടിലധികം വൈദികരെ തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോയിട്ടുണ്ട്. 2022-ൽ ഒരാൾ ക്രൂരമായി കൊല്ലപ്പെടുകയും ചെയ്തെന്നു ഫാ. എഗിലെവ കൂട്ടിച്ചേർത്തു.
Sources:azchavattomonline.com
The Edo State Police Command has confirmed the abduction of Rev. Fr. Philip Ekweli and Seminarian Peter Andrew by suspected herders at St. Peter Catholic Church, Ivukwa community, Etsako East Local Government Area.
The command’s spokesperson, Moses Yamu, in a statement on Tuesday, said operatives killed one of the suspected kidnappers while four others were arrested.
Yamu said, “On March 3, 2025, at about 11:30 pm, the command received a distress call from a concerned citizen that armed men, suspected to be herdsmen, stormed St. Peter Catholic Church in Ivukwa, Etsako East LGA, and abducted Rev. Fr. Philip Ekweli and Seminarian Peter Andrew.”
He added that the police, in collaboration with vigilantes and hunters, swiftly moved to the scene and engaged the attackers in a gun duel, leading to the death of one suspect.
“One of the suspects, whose name remains unknown, was neutralised, and his corpse has been deposited at the General Hospital, Agenebode,” he said.
According to the police, items recovered from the suspect include two pairs of rubber shoes, a button phone with two SIM cards, a power bank, a dagger jacket, a bag containing biscuits and Nescafé beverage, and N168,850 in cash.
The four arrested suspects were identified as Murtala Ibrahim (32), Joshua Joseph (31), Sadiq Sheidu (35), and Sunday Bulus (28).
Yamu stated that the Commissioner of Police, Betty Otimenyin, had deployed additional anti-kidnapping operatives and Police Mobile Force personnel to work alongside the military in securing the victims’ release and apprehending the abductors.
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Auchi Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Gabriel Dunia, has decried the rising cases of attacks on Catholic priests, urging the government to address the worsening security situation in Edo North.
In a statement issued by the diocese’s Director of Communications, Rev. Fr. Peter Egielewa, the bishop lamented that Edo North, once peaceful, had become a hotbed for kidnappers.
The statement read, “The Diocese of Auchi announces with sadness that at about 9:30 pm on Monday, March 3, 2025, gunmen violently attacked the rectory and church of St. Peter Catholic Church, Iviukhua-Agenebode, Etsako East LGA.
“Doors and windows in both the rectory and church were pulled down amid heavy gunfire. Local vigilantes engaged the kidnappers, but due to the superior weapons of the attackers, the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Philip Ekweli, and a major seminarian serving in the parish were abducted and taken into the surrounding forest.”
The diocese urged Nigerians to join in prayers for the safe release of the abducted priest and seminarian.
As of press time, there had been no contact with the kidnappers.
ഇന്ത്യാ പെന്തക്കോസ്ത് ദൈവസഭയിലെ എഴുത്തുകാരുടെയും മാധ്യമ പ്രവർത്തകരുടെയും ആഗോള കൂട്ടായ്മയായ ഐപിസി ഗ്ലോബൽ മീഡിയ അസോസിയേഷൻ യുഎഇ ചാപ്റ്റർ ഭാരവാഹികളായി പാസ്റ്റർ വിൽസൺ ജോസഫ് (രക്ഷാധികാരി), ലാൽ മാത്യു (പ്രസിഡന്റ്), ഡോ. റോയ് ബി. കുരുവിള (വൈസ് പ്രസിഡന്റ് ), കൊച്ചുമോൻ ആന്താര്യത്ത് (സെക്രട്ടറി) , വിനോദ് എബ്രഹാം (ജോയിൻ്റ് സെക്രട്ടറി), നെവിൻ മങ്ങാട്ട് ( ട്രഷറർ ), പി. സി. ഗ്ലെന്നി (ജനറൽ കൗൺസിൽ അംഗം), പാസ്റ്റർ ജോൺ വർഗീസ്, ആന്റോ അലക്സ് (കമ്മിറ്റി അംഗങ്ങൾ) എന്നിവരെ തിരെഞ്ഞെടുത്തു.
ഐപിസി ഗ്ലോബൽ മീഡിയ അസോസിയേഷൻ അന്തർ ദേശീയ ഭാരവാഹികളായ സജി മത്തായി കാതേട്ട് , ഷിബു മുള്ളംകാട്ടിൽ എന്നിവർ തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പിന് നേതൃത്വം നൽകി. ഐപിസി യുഎഇ റീജിയൻ പ്രസിഡന്റ് പാസ്റ്റർ വിൽസൺ ജോസഫ് അനുഗ്രഹ പ്രാർത്ഥന നടത്തി. എഴുത്തുകാരനും പി വൈ പി എ കേരള സ്റ്റേറ്റ് ജോയിൻ്റ് സെക്രട്ടറിയുമായ സന്ദീപ് വിളമ്പുകണ്ടം പ്രസംഗിച്ചു.
Sources:christiansworldnews
The IPC Global Media Association, a global association of writers and media workers of the Indian Pentecostal Church of God, has elected Pastor Wilson Joseph (Patron), Lal Mathew (President), Dr. Roy B. Kuruvilla (Vice President), Kochumon Antaryath (Secretary), Vinod Abraham (Joint Secretary), Nevin Mangat (Treasurer), P. C. Glennie (General Council Member), Pastor John Varghese and Anto Alex (Committee Members) as the office bearers of the UAE Chapter of the IPC Global Media Association.
The election was led by IPC Global Media Association International Office Bearers Saji Mathai Kathet and Shibu Mullamkattil. IPC UAE Region President Pastor Wilson Joseph offered the blessing prayer. Sandeep Vilampukandam, writer and PYPA Kerala State Joint Secretary, delivered the speech.
http://theendtimeradio.com
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നൈജീരിയയിൽ വൈദികനെയും വൈദികാർഥിയെയും തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോയി
നൈജീരിയയിലെ ഔച്ചി കത്തോലിക്കാ രൂപതയിലെ ഇടവക റെക്ടറിയിൽ നിന്ന് ഫാ. ഫിലിപ്പ് എക്വേലിയെയും ഒരു വൈദികാർഥിയെയും അക്രമികൾ തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോയി. “എഡോ സ്റ്റേറ്റിലെ എറ്റ്സാക്കോ ഈസ്റ്റ് എൽ ജി...
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