At least two people were injured following an explosion inside a Catholic church in the city of Beni in Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday morning.
The head of police in Beni’s town hall Narcisse Muteba Kashale confirmed the incident on Sunday, June 27.
According to Kashale, the home-made bomb set up for an ambush went off at 6:00 am just an hour before a children’s Confirmation ceremony injuring two people.
Beni’s vicar general Laurent Sondirya disclosed that the target for the bomb was a large crowd as the ceremony would bring together children, their parents and the faithful but it went off before crowds gathered.
Sondirya added that the mass would not be postponed even after the attack. This is the first time a building belonging to the Catholic Church, the city’s largest religion has been directly targeted in Beni territory where the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia is accused of killing 6,000 people since 2013, Barrons reported.
In May, at least two imams in Beni known for speaking out against the ADF violence were shot dead, one inside the city’s mosque and the other after evening prayers.
The ADF consisting of about 120 armed militia groups is accused of killing hundreds of civilians and in March, the United States said the ADF was linked to the Islamic State group.
