Lisasa massacre

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Lisasa massacre
Part of Allied Democratic Forces insurgency and Kivu conflict
Location Lisasa, Kitsimba, and Kamwiri, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
DateOctober 31, 2020
1am
Deaths21
Victims20 kidnapped
PerpetratorIslamic State flag.svg 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.

Contents

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]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kivu conflict</span> Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including neighboring Ituri province, there are more than 120 different armed groups active in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently, some of the most active rebel groups include the Allied Democratic Forces, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, the March 23 Movement, and many local Mai Mai militias. In addition to rebel groups and the governmental FARDC troops, a number of national and international organizations have intervened militarily in the conflict, including the United Nations force known as MONUSCO, and an East African Community regional force.

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The 2020 Democratic Republic of the Congo attacks were a series of attacks which took place in 2020. The attacks were mostly carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a radical Islamist rebel group and the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO), an agricultural and religious group made up of ethnic Lendu people. The attacks left at least 1,316 people dead and 132 injured.

The Kipupu massacre occurred on 16 July 2020 in the South Kivu village of Kipupu in the Mwenga Territory in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Gunmen belonging to the Ngumino and Twiganeho militias of the Banyamulenge community attacked the village and reportedly killed 220 people according to provincial lawmakers, while independent analysts state only 18 people were killed.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Battle of Kitshanga</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Battle of Kitshanga</span> Battle between M23 and Wazalendo fighters

The Second battle of Kitshanga broke out between Rwandan-backed M23 fighters and self-defense groups known as Wazalendo allied with the Congolese government. In January 2023, M23 rebels captured Kitshanga from the Congolese Army and allied forces in their renewed offensive in North Kivu. Wazalendo forces captured Kitshanga in early October 2023 as part of a counteroffensive, with the city switching hands between Wazalendo and the M23 after October 16, and a second M23 offensive on October 21 capturing the town.

Between January 28 and 30, 2020, the Islamic State – Central Africa Province (ISCAP) killed at least seventy-three people in a series of massacres in Oicha Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The attacks spanned across several towns, especially Mantumbi, Manzingi, and Mamove.

On October 20, 2020, jihadists from the Islamic State – Central Africa Province (ISCAP) raided the prison and neighboring military camp in Kangbayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, releasing 1,335 prisoners of the original 1,456.

On December 31, 2020, jihadist militants from the Islamic State affiliate Allied Democratic Forces attacked the village of Tingwe, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least thirty people. Several other civilians were kidnapped as well.

On January 4, 2021, jihadists from the Allied Democratic Forces attacked the village of Mwenda, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 23 people. The massacre came several days after an attack on Tingwe that killed over 30 people.

On March 12, 2023, jihadists from the Allied Democratic Forces attacked the village of Kirindera, Beni Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing nineteen civilians. The massacre occurred days after the Mukondi massacre, where the ADF/ISCAP killed around forty civilians,

At 2am on March 15, 2021, jihadists from the Allied Democratic Forces attacked the town of Bulongo, Beni Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 15 people.

On the night between May 30 and 31, 2021, jihadists from the Allied Democratic Forces attacked the towns of Boga and Tchabi, killing a total of fifty-seven civilians and injuring forty-seven others. The attacks were one of the deadliest massacres ever perpetrated by the ADF since its founding in the 1990s.

On July 22, 2021, jihadists from the Allied Democratic Forces ambushed a convoy of civilians returning from a market along a highway between Mayi-Moya and Chani-chani, Beni Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sixteen civilians were killed in the ambush, and nine more were injured.

On August 28, 2021, jihadists from the Allied Democratic Forces attacked the village of Kasanzi, Beni Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nineteen civilians were killed in the massacre, and the attack was part of a larger spree by ISCAP against villages in Beni Territory.

References

  1. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 "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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