Democratic Republic of the Congo (MNN) — On April 1, the ISIS-affiliated terrorist group known as the Allied Democratic Forces killed at least 43 people in northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

According to a March report on the DRC from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, attacks by the ADF such as the April 1 incident in Bafwakoa have escalated in the majority-Christian, resource-rich nation.

Wikimedia Commons, North Kivu (dark red), Ituri (bright red)

Photo of North Kivu and Ituri Provinces courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

“Congo has unfortunately been in this perpetual spiral of instabilities for decades,” says Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations. “And you know, the last five years in particular, they see an opportunity, and so they’re trying to move into these areas, which are heavily Christian areas.”

The DRC’s situation is not the same as Nigeria’s. In Nigeria, there is a sharper divide between Muslims and Christians within the country’s north. But in the DRC, that element of antagonism is less prevalent. 

“More of the commonality that the DRC and Nigeria have is the instability, and so it’s opportunities for them to really establish a Muslim beachhead,” says Kelley. “[In northern Nigeria,] it’s had the Boko Haram activity, the Fulani herdsmen. They’re literally trying to eradicate Christianity in the north.”

But Kelley notes that in the DRC, the ADF isn’t targeting only Christians. 

“These are just kind of almost generic brutalities, killing, raiding villages, trying to take ground, trying to get people to just pack up their bags and move on so they can control territory,” Kelley says, “because again, this is some of the wealthiest real estate, not just in Congo, not just in Africa, but in the world.”

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Photo courtesy of Johnnathan Tshibangu via Unsplash)

Yet statistically speaking, believers do endure the brunt of ADF attacks. That’s because 95 percent of the DRC’s population identifies as Christian, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom report. Recent attacks on Christians took place in March and February. There are likely more that have not made it to mainstream media. But the big picture trend is clear: According to a report from International Christian Concern, the ADF claims that it has killed more than 700 Christians since December 2024. 

“It’s spiritual warfare, attacking God’s people in a place where the gospel, in the midst of all the instability, has grown tremendously. It’s a real success story,” says Kelley.

Ask God to raise up more Christians to serve as gospel workers in the DRC.

“It’s not the first place that a missionary is going to want to go. But missionaries are being mobilized in the Congo right now,” says Kelley. 

“We have a training center near Kinshasa that’s mobilizing missionaries to go into French-speaking areas. But when you see these kinds of things happening [attacks on Christian communities], they’ll be able to divert resources and go into that area. So pray for training efforts.”

 

Header photo: Portrait of a Taabwa Catholic priest at the historic mission in the city of Moba, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Photo courtesy of IMB)