Bomb Blast Leaves 17 Dead and 20 Injured at DR Congo Church
On Sunday, January 15, 2023, a Pentecostal church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was struck by an artisanal bomb explosion that left 17 people dead and 20 others hurt.
Bomb Blast Leaves 17 Dead and 20 Injured at DR Congo Church
On Sunday, January 15, 2023, a Pentecostal church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was struck by an artisanal bomb explosion that left 17 people dead and 20 others hurt.
According to bazzup, the explosion took place inside the 8th CEPAC church in Kasindi-Lubirigha, North Kivu, which is located around 90 kilometers northeast of Beni. Uganda’s border city is Kasindi.
Captain Anthony Mualushayi, a spokesman for the DR Congo army’s military operations Sokola 1 in North Kivu, stated that the improvised device “is undoubtedly a terrorist act carried out by the ADF-MTM terrorists.”
One suspect, of Kenyan descent, he claimed, has since been detained. “We were able to capture a Kenyan who was responsible for this incident.”
He told Radio Okapi that “everything indicates that it is undoubtedly a terrorist incident carried out by the terrorists of the ADF-MTM” and urged residents to work more closely with law enforcement.
Threatens President Tshisekedi
The incident was “visibly done by ADF terrorists…against civilians in full worship in the parish of the 8th Community of Pentecostal Churches of Congo,” the DRC government said in a statement condemning it.
Patrick Muyaya, a government spokesman, urged the local populace to heed FARDC advice to stay alert and avoid crowds.
Operation Sokola 1 Grand Nord spokesperson Captain Antony Mwalushayi Andé Ph. Kitenge
Okapi Radio
“In the next hours, the overall evaluation and the findings of the ongoing preliminary investigations will be shared. The Government extends its sincere condolences to the lost families and conveys its profound sympathy to the fellow countrymen who are the victims of this heinous terrorist attack, according to a tweet from Muyaya.
‘Saddened by this horrific murder, the father of the nation expresses his most heartfelt condolences to the dead families, assuring them that the perpetrators will be persecuted, apprehended, tried, and severely punished,’ said President Felix Tshisekedi.
MONUSCO offer support
MONUSCO, the UN organization’s stabilization mission in the DRC, pledged support for the medical treatment of injured civilians.
On Sunday night, a medical ambulance from the UN mission arrived in Kasindi to start transporting the badly injured to Beni.
On Monday, MONUSCO would also book particular flights for the urgently needed humanitarian evacuation of cases.
