DRC: Christian trauma counselor murdered by Islamic terrorists
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – An Anglican Christian trauma counselor was among four civilians killed in an attack by Islamic Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) terrorists in Karuruma, eastern DR Congo on Thursday, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
The ADF is affiliated with ISIS and has been murdering, killing, and displacing DRC civilians for years in its effort to impose Sharia law in the majority-Christian country.
A staff member of the Anglican Church of Congo, Sylvia Kombi provided counseling for Congolese citizens traumatized by relentless terrorism and the war against the ADF. Kombi was killed with three others when the vehicle they were traveling in through Karuruma was attacked, ICC reports.
“[Sylvia] was coming from our diocese in Kasindi where she had gone to give counseling to Christian refugees living in Lubhiriha,” local source Canon Muhasa told ICC. “We received reports that the rebels had stopped their vehicle in Karuruma, which is a village in Virunga Park, and they killed four of the travelers, while two escaped with serious wounds. They also set vehicles on fire.”
In a statement, the South Rwenzori Diocese of Uganda described Kombi as a “dedicated psychologist who offered immense trauma counseling to the persecuted believers in the diocese.”
“She would spend days with the Muslim background believers here to pray with them and guide them on how to face persecution and become bold servants of the Lord.”
The situation in the Beni and Ituri regions of DRC remains perilous despite the arrival of Ugandan forces to help with rooting out the ADF, ICC reports.
Drivers have called for government escorts to protect vehicles along particularly dangerous roads.
“We ask the government to resume escorting all vehicles from Kasindi to Butembo the same way they do along the Kasindi Beni road,” a driver in Kasindi said in a statement.
“We would appreciate it if the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) are deployed to guard vehicles on this risky road.”