After suicide bombing, east Congo mayor fears more attacks

BENI, Congo — Authorities successful Congo urged churches, restaurants and hotels to measurement up information Sunday, fearing much unit aft a termination bomber killed 5 radical successful eastbound Congo successful the archetypal onslaught of its kind.

Beni Mayor Narcisse Muteba, a constabulary colonel, warned owners of fashionable venues successful the municipality of Beni that they needed to adhd information guards with metallic detectors due to the fact that “terrorists” could onslaught again.

“We are asking radical to beryllium vigilant and to debar nationalist places during this festive period,” Muteba told The Associated Press connected Sunday.

Officials initially said the decease toll was six positive the termination bomber, but Muteba revised that fig a time aboriginal to 5 victims. Thirteen others remained hospitalized aft the blast astatine the entranceway to the Inbox edifice connected Christmas Day.

Saturday’s bloodshed dramatically deepened fears that Islamic extremism has taken clasp successful Beni, which already has suffered years of attacks by rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces, oregon ADF.

Muteba blamed the latest onslaught connected those rebels, whose nonstop links to planetary extremist groups person been murky. The Islamic State’s Central Africa Province has claimed work for attacks blamed connected ADF, but it is chartless what relation precisely the larger enactment whitethorn person played successful organizing and financing the attacks.

There person been worrying signs that spiritual extremism was escalating astir Beni: Two section imams were killed earlier this twelvemonth wrong weeks of each other, 1 of whom had spoken retired against the ADF.

Then successful June, the Islamic State group’s Central Africa Province claimed work for a termination bomber who blew himself up adjacent a barroom successful Beni without harming others. Another detonation that aforesaid time astatine a Catholic religion wounded 2 people.

There was nary contiguous assertion of work for Saturday’s attack, successful which authorities accidental the bomber yet was stopped from entering the crowded restaurant. After the blast adjacent the entrance, humor stained the pavement and mangled chairs laic strewn adjacent the entrance.

Rachel Magali, who had been astatine the edifice with her sister-in-law and respective others, described proceeding a large sound and past radical starting to cry.

“We rushed to the exit wherever I saw radical lying down,” she told the AP. “There were greenish integrative chairs scattered everyplace and I besides saw heads and arms nary longer attached. It was truly horrible.”

Associated Press writer Krista Larson successful Dakar, Senegal contributed.