Over the course of May, dozens of Christians have been killed in the latest spate of attacks occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo. On May 13, ADF rebels slaughtered 21 people and burnt down homes, in the majority Christian village of Biakato, in Ituri province.
Ituri has been the site of some of the most recent and deadliest attacks. Since 05 May, successive incidences have left Christians in the province fearing for their lives. At the start of the month, an estimated 60 Christians were reportedly killed by Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP). A further 15 Christians were killed in a another attack in Beni, followed on Sunday 10 May by the murder of nine and the abduction of six others in the village of Makumu.
Earlier assaults from 2024 and 2025, are highlighted in a new report by Amnesty International. According to their findings, Christians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are facing escalating violence from an Islamic State-linked militant group accused of massacres, abductions and systematic terror attacks across villages and churches.
Titled, ‘I’d Never Seen So Many Bodies’: War Crimes by the Allied Democratic Forces in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the report documents atrocities carried out by the rebel ADF movement. It has been primarily operating in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, where many communities are overwhelmingly Christian.
“Given the demographic composition in the area of its operations, the vast majority of the ADF’s victims have been Christians,” notes the report. “The group’s claims of responsibility make specific references to Christians being targeted, and the ADF’s leaders have stressed the permissibility of killing them. But it is worth considering that the group also uses in its statements – and per former abductees, in daily life too – references such as “non-believers” as an umbrella term that includes Muslims not espousing their version of the religion and way of life.”
In this report, Amnesty International has documented the impact of militant violence in the eastern DRC, specifically in North Kivu’s Beni and Lubero territories, and Ituri’s Irumu and Mambasa territories. Actors have primarily been Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) which sometimes also uses the name Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP). Horrific actions recounted in the report included attacks on civilians; abductions and forced labour; recruitment and use of children; and specific abuses and crimes against women and girls, including forced marriage, forced pregnancy and various forms of sexual violence.
“Civilians in the eastern DRC have suffered extensive brutality at the hands of ADF fighters. They have been killed, abducted and tortured in a dehumanizing campaign of abuse,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
Released earlier this year, another report reflects the intense hardship faced by Christians in the DRC. The World Watch List, an annual index produced by not for profit, Open Doors, ranked DRC 29th in the world for its high levels of Christian persecution. “In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), especially North Kivu, Ituri, and parts of South Kivu, Christians face severe persecution amid violent conflict,” it noted. “The Islamic State–linked Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) have deliberately targeted Christian communities through massacres, abductions, and the destruction of churches. Survivors report atrocities designed to erase Christian presence.”
