UMVA has learned that a staggering 1,100 Christians have been brutally slaughtered in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since December 2024, in a wave of terror perpetrated by Islamic State-linked terrorists.
The atrocities are part of a larger campaign of violence and intimidation by Islamist extremists, who are targeting Christian communities in the region. The victims are being forced to flee their homes, with over 7.3 million people internally displaced in eastern DRC, the highest total in Africa and among the highest in the world.
In one horrific incident, 57 Christians were killed over a week-long period ending June 2, 2026, in the Beni region of North Kivu. The Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) was responsible for the slaughter of 16 Christians in the village of Mayangose on May 31, with 10 believers from the same village captured and executed just a day earlier.
The attacks have been relentless, with 16 people killed in overnight raids on villages in Lubero Territory on January 2, 2026, and 28 Christians massacred in attacks on three villages near Ndalya in Ituri on February 2. In one particularly gruesome incident, ADF fighters executed approximately 70 civilians in a Christian village in North Kivu, beheading men, women, children, and the elderly.
On March 13, Islamic State media claimed responsibility for killing 17 Christians and abducting around 100 others during an attack on the Christian village of Mushasha in Ituri Province. Dozens of homes were burned, and the attack targeted a Chinese-owned gold mine and a Congolese military base.
The terror group presents every Christian community it enters with a brutal ultimatum: convert to Islam, accept dhimmi status, or die. Those who refuse are designated "Christian combatants," allowing the group to portray the killing of civilians as legitimate military action.
In a scathing report, Amnesty International documented killings, abductions, forced labor, child recruitment, and sexual violence, concluding that the violations amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The European Parliament has declared ISCAP the deadliest armed group in the DRC.
The scale of the targeting is staggering, with over 95% of the Democratic Republic of Congo's population identifying as Christian, approximately half Catholic and half Protestant. Yet, the country is home to some of the most extreme persecution, with 355 Christians killed for their faith in 2024, up from 261 in 2023.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that the situation on the ground remains dire, with thousands displaced and countless lives lost. The international community has been urged to take action, with Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard stating that "these abuses constitute war crimes which the world must not continue to ignore."
