Wajir man detained in DR Congo over church bombing

Crime scene

The DR Congo army has detained a Kenyan linked to a January 15, 2023 church bombing that left at least 10 dead and 39 injured.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

Authorities have identified the Kenyan man detained in by the DR Congo (FARDC) in connection to the Sunday bombing of a church in eastern DRC that left at least 10 dead.

Congolese authorities did not release his name when he was arrested on Sunday, but Kenya's Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) on Monday identified him as 29-year-old Abdirizak Muktar Garad, who hails from Wajir County, northern Kenya.

The bomb attack took place at a church in Kasindi near the DRC-Uganda border, in which at least 39 other people were injured.

FARDC spokesperson Anthony Mualushay linked the attack to the Allied Defence Forces (ADF), a terror group with origins in Uganda but based in eastern DRC. Garad is believed to be a member of the ADF.

The terror group is suspected to have placed the improvised explosive device (IED) at the Protestant church during its Sunday morning service.

Kasindi area located less than 100km from Beni town in eastern DRC which is under the watch a joint operation of Ugandan and DRC forces who are fighting the ADF.

The terror group is part of the more than 120 armed groups that have been fighting in eastern DRC leaving thousands dead and many more displaced.