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 attacks 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 attacks have been relentless, with 57 Christians killed in a single week-long period ending June 2, 2026, in the Beni region of North Kivu.
In one particularly gruesome attack, 16 Christians were slaughtered in the village of Mayangose on May 31, and 10 more were captured and executed just a day earlier. The victims were subjected to the same ultimatum: convert to Islam, accept subjugation, or die.
The Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) has claimed responsibility for the killings, which have been marked by extreme brutality. In one instance, fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed at least seven Christians in Beni's Ngadi neighborhood, blocking their escape routes before shooting them.
According to information obtained by UMVA, ISCAP's campaign of violence has resulted in over 6,500 Christian deaths since 2017. The pace of attacks in 2026 has been unrelenting, with 16 people killed in overnight raids on villages in Lubero Territory on January 2, and 28 Christians massacred in attacks on three villages near Ndalya in Ituri on February 2.
The attacks have been characterized by extreme violence, with men, women, children, and the elderly being beheaded or burned alive. In one instance, approximately 70 civilians were executed in a Christian village in North Kivu, with victims including women and children.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that the attacks are part of a larger pattern of violence and intimidation, with ISCAP presenting every Christian community it enters with a three-part ultimatum: convert to Islam, accept subjugation, or die. Those who refuse are designated "Christian combatants," allowing the group to portray the killing of civilians as legitimate military action.
The international community has condemned the attacks, with Amnesty International documenting killings, abductions, forced labor, child recruitment, and sexual violence. The European Parliament has declared ISCAP the deadliest armed group in the DRC.
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that the DRC is home to over 117 million Christians, yet the country ranks 35th globally for Christian persecution. The situation on the ground remains dire, with over 7.3 million people internally displaced in eastern DRC, and thousands more fleeing their homes in fear of their lives.
