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Lisasa massacre

Lisasa massacre
Part of Allied Democratic Forces insurgency and Kivu conflict
LocationLisasa, Kitsimba, and Kamwiri, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
DateOctober 31, 2020
1am
Deaths21
Victims20 kidnapped
Perpetrator ISCAP
MotiveKilling Christians

On October 31, 2020, jihadists from the Islamic State's Central Africa Province (ISCAP) attacked the village of Lisasa, Beni Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing over twenty-one civilians after brief clashes with UPLC Mai-Mai militiamen. The massacre came just several days after ISCAP slaughtered nineteen civilians in the village of Baeti.

Background

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019, and began a campaign against Congolese authorities and rebels in North Kivu as the newly-formed Central Africa Province of the Islamic State.[1] The campaign also heavily targeted Christian villages, and the ADF perpetrated numerous massacres.[1] In Beni in October 2020, ADF fighters broke hundreds of their compatriots out of a jail near the town.[2] The jailbreak encouraged ADF fighters to continue their rampage in areas of Beni Territory that hadn't seen massacres for four years.[2] In the town of Baeti on October 28, ADF fighters massacred nineteen people.[3] The Lisasa massacre occurred a year and one day after the start of a counter-insurgency campaign by the Congolese government against the ADF.[2]

Massacre

Prior to the massacre, the village was defended by militiamen of the Mai-Mai group Union of Patriots for the Liberation of the Congo (UPLC).[2] ISCAP jihadists attacked the village of Lisasa at one in the morning of October 31, with some fighters engaging in clashes with UPLC and armed civilians and other fighters ransacking the village, looting houses and killing civilians.[2] The jihadists attacked the village's health center and set fire to it, and then desecrated a Catholic church in the village.[2] Massacres were also carried out in the neighboring villages of Kitsimba and Kamwiri.[4]

The preliminary death toll was seventeen civilians killed across all three villages, fifteen of the dead being women. Twenty people were also kidnapped.[4][5] Four bodies were found the next day, bringing the death toll to twenty-one killed.[6] Some of the kidnapped residents were health workers at the hospital in Lisasa.[7]

Aftermath

The Congolese government did not release a statement in the immediate aftermath of the massacre.[8] Josep Borrell condemned the attack on November 1.[8] That same day, ISCAP claimed responsibility for the massacre in Lisasa, along with the prison break in Kangbayi.[9] In the statement by ISCAP, they stated the motive of attacking Lisasa was to kill Christians.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "The Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamic State Affiliate in the Democratic Republic of Congo". Congressional Research Service. September 1, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "RDC : au moins 17 civils tués, une structure sanitaire saccagée et une église catholique profanée dans une attaque ADF à Beni". Actualite.cd (in French). 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  3. ^ "DRC: ADF militants attack village in Beni territory (North Kivu province) October 28". DRC: ADF militants attack village in Beni territory (North Kivu province) October 28 | Crisis24. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  4. ^ a b "Country Reports on Terrorism 2022". United States Department of State. 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  5. ^ "Suspected ADF attack in DRC village kills more than 20 civilians". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  6. ^ "RDC : le bilan de l'attaque des ADF à Buliki revu à la hausse, il passe de 17 à 21 morts". Actualite.cd (in French). 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  7. ^ "Nord-Kivu : plus de 40 personnes tuées à Beni depuis l'évasion des détenus de la prison de Kangbayi". Actualite.cd (in French). 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  8. ^ a b "RDC: plus de 20 personnes tuées à Beni, " l'UE condamne vigoureusement cet acte et appelle à la fin de l'impunité pour les auteurs de ces crimes "". Actualite.cd (in French). 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  9. ^ "RDC-Beni: l'Etat Islamique revendique l'attaque de Lisasa qui a fait une vingtaine de morts". Actualite.cd (in French). 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  10. ^ "RDC : deux civils tués par les combattants ADF sur la route Mbau-Kamango à Beni". Actualite.cd (in French). 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2024-06-14.

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