The suicide bomber who detonated his bomb on Christmas Day in Beni, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killed seven people and wounded 20 others, according to a newest death toll released by authorities yesterday, Sunday.
The initial official account, released on Saturday, put the death toll at five in the blast caused by the suicide bomber inside a crowded bar-restaurant in downtown Beni, North Kivu province.
Authorities immediately blamed the action on jihadists from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
"So far, the provisional toll stands at eight dead, including a captain of the 22nd Brigade who was in the restaurant with his wife and children," as well as the attacker, Patrick Mouyaia, communications minister and spokesman for the Congolese government, explained during a press conference.
"We also have 20 injured, including two young girls, two young boys, two ladies who suffered ruptured internal organs, two ladies seriously injured" and as well as two local officials, he listed.
As for the perpetrator, "identifying him is difficult," said Major General Constantine Dima, the military officer who has been assigned the role of interim governor of North Kivu.
"We could only retrieve his head. He was pulverized by the explosion. But we will succeed because we have a database," he told the press."
Major General Dima called on citizens "to be strong and vigilant," assuring that "no part of the country will retreat in the face of the enemy, the ADF, which wants to establish a caliphate in the Great Lakes region."
The provinces of North Kivu and Ituri have been under a state of siege since May, an extraordinary measure that gives the army overriding powers but has not, so far, allowed an end to the activities of armed organisations there.
In the two provinces, the armed forces of DR Congo and Uganda have been conducting large-scale joint operations against ADF positions since 30 November.
The ADF, considered the most dangerous organisation in DR Congo, is also blamed by the Ugandan authorities for recent attacks on its territory, for which the Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility. IS presents the ADF as its proxy in the "province" of its "caliphate" in central Africa, calling it the Islamic State in Central Africa (ISCA).
On March 11, the US included the ADF on its list of "terrorist organizations" which it compiles, stressing its links to IS.
Source: First Theme
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs to Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source[/p]
