The Congolese chapter of Islamic State has a ruthless way of stopping outsiders reporting their presence to the authorities. Under the edicts of their founder, Jamil Mukulu, who once lived as a cleric in London, anyone who strays across them in their forest hideouts should be killed on sight. ‘Slaughter him or her, behead them immediately,’ Mukulu once commanded. ‘Never give it a second thought, do not hesitate.’
To be fair, a mainstream media outlet reported the story this time. On February 20, a week after the attack, Newsweek published an article titled “70 Christians Beheaded in Church: What We Know,” providing key details of the story.
But otherwise, more than two weeks later, one of the most horrific attacks in history against Christians has been completely ignored by the mainstream media.
“Nearly 3,000 people have been killed in Goma in recent days” reported Vivian van de Perre, Deputy Head of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in central Africa. Goma is the capital and largest city of the DRC’s North Kivu Province.
In the final week of January, 17 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers in the Congo were killed, and many more wounded, in battle with the rebel group M23 (which is backed by Rwanda), when the M23 captured Goma from DRC government’s forces. It is believed that “M23 seeks to set up an administration to govern Goma as it has in other areas under its control in the eastern DRC.”
Western diplomats are deeply worried about the sudden appearance of Eastern European mercenaries in the volatile eastern Congo. Despite denials by Kinshasa, rumors abound that it hired the notorious Russian Wagner Group.
Located on an unpaved side street near the international airport of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),the Hotel Mbiza usually caters to businesspeople or government delegations from the capital, Kinshasa. But since around Christmas of 2022, white military personnel from Eastern Europe have fully booked the hotel.
“There are dozens, maybe even a hundred white men in uniform,” a local journalist said. He asked for anonymity for security reasons. “They wear a variety of uniforms with no national flags, and pistols on belts,” he said.
The journalist added that soldiers of the Congolese presidential guard closely guarded the hotel entrance. They told him foreigners had booked all the rooms for an extended period. “It is now the headquarters of the whites,” explained a soldier at the entrance, who refused to say more.
