Kenyan Arrested in DRC Over Bomb Attack

An image of an army officer on patrol in the volatile Eastern DRC.
An image of an army officer on patrol in the volatile Eastern DRC.
Twitter
Tribune

A Kenyan suspect is being held over the attack on a church in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that left 10 people dead on Sunday, January 15.



Congolese Military Spokesman Antony Mualushayi revealed that the "terrorist act" happened in a Pentecostal church in North Kivu province's Kasindi, a town on the border with Uganda.

At least 39 other people were injured, according to provisional figures from the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC).

Mualushayi disclosed that, after initial investigations at the scene of the tragedy, a Kenyan was arrested for having links to the planning of the attack now associated with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

Soldiers in Democratic Republic of the Congo on November 16, 2022.
Soldiers in Democratic Republic of the Congo on November 16, 2022.

Equally, DRC's communications ministry confirmed through social media that the attack was apparently carried out by the ADF) which the Islamic State group claims as its affiliate in central Africa. 



The ADF has been accused of heinous crimes against Congolese civilians and carrying out bomb attacks in Uganda.



ADF operatives have also planted bombs in towns in North Kivu in the past.

According to the FARDC, the terrorist attack on Sunday was perpetrated “in retaliation for the losses these terrorists have suffered in several battlefields against the FARDC.”



The ADF pledged allegiance to the Islamic State organisation in 2019.

In 2021, the United States labelled the ADF a "foreign terrorist organisation" with links to the Islamic State group.



The militia is active mainly in North Kivu and neighbouring Ituri province. 

In November 2022, Kenyan soldiers were deployed in the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as part of a regional peacekeeping mission to the region.

More than 120 armed groups are active in the DRC’s volatile east, many of which are a legacy of regional wars which flared at the turn of the century.



In September 2022, President William Ruto appointed former President Uhuru Kenyatta to handle the DRC peace process.



Kenyatta has been hailed for his sustained, principled, impartial, inclusive and discreet efforts to broker peace and negotiations with a view to a comprehensive resolution in the Congo.

KDF soldiers inside a military plane leaving for DRC on November 12, 2022
KDF soldiers inside a military plane leaving for DRC on November 12, 2022.
KDF
  • . . . . . . . .