The Brutal Reality of Christians Under Siege in the DRC

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Christian communities are facing a systematic campaign of terror and religious persecution at the hands of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The ISIS-affiliated group has turned northeastern Congo into a torment of massacres, targeted killings of pastors, church burnings, widespread sexual violence against women and girls, and the coercion of individuals into abandoning their faith through forced conversions. These are not isolated incidents but part of a deliberate strategy to eliminate Christian presence and dismantle community structures, imposing control through targeted religious persecution.

This destabilization of local Christian populations streamlines the ADF’s clear strategy: erase Christianity from the region and control communities through fear. Since 2017, over 6,000 Christians have been killed by the ADF, and 1.5 million more have been driven from their homes. Overflowing displacement camps force already vulnerable families to struggle with severe shortages of food, water, and medicine. 27% of children suffer acute malnutrition, while cholera spreads unchecked. With no health infrastructure left standing, preventable diseases claim countless lives and compound the victims’ suffering.

These conditions thrive under the shadow of a widening security vacuum, which allows the ADF to expand operations with little resistance. The weak state and under-resourced Congolese military enable the ADF to grow stronger with ISIS training and logistical support, with recent attacks reflecting their growing militaristic sophistication.

Without immediate, coordinated, strengthened intervention, the magnitude of the ADF’s force and reach will entrench the group as a permanent threat to stability and to the survival of Christianity in Central Africa.