49 Christians, including 9 children, killed in the attack on the Church of Dr Congo

First of all on the fox – Dramatic testimonies have been revealed exclusively to Fox News Digital, giving new details on the horrible massacre scene on Sunday by jihadists allied with the Islamic State of at least 49 Christians adoring in a church of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Nine of the beheaded people were children. Several other children, the number is not clear, have been removed. The attackers were members of the Islamist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebellious group sanctioned with roots in Uganda.

With the help of Open Doors UK, Fox News Digital reached a local church partner in the organization in the DRC, which rushed to attend the attack scene, in the village of Komanda, just hours after it took place. Open Doors is a global Christian charity that supports and speaks for Christians persecuted for their faith.

Pope Leo XIV condemns a brutal machete attack which killed 49 Christians during prayer in Dr Congo

A screenshot shows that the villagers inspect the damage left by the jihadist terrorists who killed 49 Christians in Dr. Congo on Sunday. (Open doors)

Survivors from the village, including a store owner who managed to be an eyewitness and remarkably escaped detection by the attackers even if his store was burnt down, and the reported position of the bodies of people hacked to death, the church worker gathered a story of the way the attack occurred.

Judith, whose name was changed to protect his identity, told Fox News Digital that it was clear that something was wrong before it even reached the village. “On our way, we could see people already leaving, carrying their bags, heading towards more secure areas.

“In Komanda, there were no activities, and people stood in groups in stores and places that had been burned. And people were sad. There was sadness everywhere.”

Fox News Digital learned that the faithful came from surrounding villages to celebrate the silver jubilee of the Church in prayer and pray for “the security situation” – to pray for peace.

“The attackers entered” she said “and they beheaded Christians in the Church.” The jihadists “killed those they met in the church room. Those who tried to flee, they caught them and killed them in the enclosure. And then others who managed to run towards the road, those who were also taken and killed. All were killed with machetes. Most of the Christians who were killed, were Catholics.”

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The villagers head towards the burial place of 49 Christians killed by jihadists in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Open doors)

Another merchant whose business has also been burnt down told Judith “we don’t even understand why all of this is going”.

The UN Monusco (the stabilization mission in the DRC) has sent in “caterpillars” that dig the earth to dig a huge crater in the village, a mass tomb in which simple boxes that formed coffins have been placed for the dead. Some of them buried that day had come to Komanda for security after having already been attacked in other regions before.

During the funeral on Monday, Judith said: “People were crying, cried, some were crying for their children who had been kidnapped. A woman cried for the man whom she had to get married, now dead. Others were also crying that it was the person who took care of me. Now the person is no longer.

“There was sadness to sadness everywhere. Everything they had is lost, they have nothing now.”

The villagers pray together for the 49 Christians killed last Sunday in the Democratic Republic of Congo by extremists linked to the Islamic State. (Open doors)

Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jim Risch, R-Assaho, condemned the attack on Monday on xPublishing “this deadly climbing in their targeting of Christians makes the peace process, defended by @potus and @secrubio even more urgent. We must concentrate all the energies on the eradication of these Islamic State terrorists and forge a new regional economic path.”

“It is a crisis of biblical proportions,” said Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors Uk and Ireland, told Fox News Digital, adding “This is a silent slaughter, which nobody discusses. Women and children are only men.

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The villagers buried their dead following the murder of 49 Christians in the Democratic Republic of Congo by jihadists linked to the Islamic State. (Open doors)

Blythe said the Islamists were trying to create a caliphate with its strict Islamic laws in a country of 80 to 95%.

“Christians did not even sleep in their houses at night. They prefer to sleep in the jungle at risk of wild animals than to be seated in their homes when the extremists attack. In this part of sub -Saharan Africa, we believe that more than 16 million Christians were moved following violence. The church is in the race.

“This is not an isolated event,” said Jo Newhouse, Sub -Sahara specialist for Open Doors, in Fox News Digital. The organization reports that more than 80 local villagers, largely Christian, have been killed in other attacks in this month only in July. “We need the United States to pay attention to what’s going on and use your influence for the church here. Do not be blind to what’s going on here. Be careful.”

Judith heard of the peace agreement negotiated by President Donald Trump between the DRC and Rwanda. However, this has so far had no difference in the situation in which it is, in the eastern part of the country. “We have seen many peace agreements that have not given any results,” she said. “The necessary peace agreement is that with the ADF. For the moment, they continue attacks against the people.”

People gather around the charred remains of a burned vehicle following a deadly attack in Komanda, the province of Ituri in the east of Dr Congo, where 49 faithful were killed during a religious service by jihadists. (Olivier Okande / UGC via AP)

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The villagers saw the Islamist attackers withdraw to one point a few kilometers away. A local source indicates that no arrest has been made. Another attack can come at any time.

“If the Trump administration can put pressure on governments such as Uganda and Rwanda to withdraw their forces here,” said Judith “Congo would be fine”.