The terrorist group Islamic State in Central Africa (ISCA) has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack on an evangelical church in Kasindi, North Kivu state, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which killed at least 17 people and wounded about 20 others.
«Islamic State claims that its militiamen planted and detonated explosive devices, leaving dozens of Christians dead and wounded,» said Rita Katz, director of SITE Intelligence Group, an organization specializing in tracking terrorist groups.
She explained that the terrorist group has also threatened to carry out more attacks in the future. However, the main suspect in the attack has already been arrested and is being interrogated by the authorities.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has expressed his «sadness» over this «heinous crime». «I send my deepest condolences to the families of the victims. I assure that those responsible will be prosecuted, arrested and severely punished,» he said in a statement carried by Radio Okapi.
For its part, the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) has promised to support the health services to «treat the wounded of the bomb attack» in the city of Beni and has clarified that a medicalized ambulance has already been sent to the area.
The DRC government has blamed the attack on the rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan group created in the 1990s particularly active in eastern DRC and accused of the massacre of hundreds of civilians in this part of the country.
The group went through a split in 2019 after Musa Baluku — sanctioned by the United Nations and the United States — swore allegiance to the ISCA, under whose banner it has been operating ever since. An increase in its attacks on Ugandan soil and a claim of an attack in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, led the two countries to launch joint operations in eastern DRC.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
