A police colonel in Beni, Narcisse Muteba (Beni Mayor) warned bars, churches, and hotels that “terrorists could strike again.”
Muteba said that “we are asking people be vigilant and to avoid public spaces during this festive period,” to The Associated Press Sunday.
Brig. Gen. Constant Ndima is the military governor for North Kivu. He said that there will be an enforced curfew at 7 p.m. and more road checks.
Initial estimates of the death toll were six, plus the suicide bomber. However, officials later revised the figure to five victims. Thirteen other people were still hospitalized following the explosion at the Inbox restaurant’s entrance on Christmas Day.
The bloodshed that occurred on Saturday has heightened fears of Islamic extremism taking root in Beni. Already, the town has been under attack for years by rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (or ADF), who can trace their roots to neighbouring Uganda.
Officials blamed the latest attack upon those rebels, though details about their links to international extremist organizations are murky. Although the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province claimed responsibility for the attack on ADF, it is not clear what role the larger organization played in financing and organizing the attacks.
Two imams from Beni were murdered within weeks of each another earlier this year, one of them having spoken out against ADF.
In June, the Islamic State group’s Central Africa Province claimed responsibility to a suicide bomber who detonated himself near a Beni bar without inflicting any injuries on others. Two people were also injured in another explosion at a Catholic Church that day.
Authorities say that the bomber was eventually stopped from entering the restaurant, although there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Blood stained the streets near the entrance and chairs were left mangled near it.
Rachel Magali, a sister-in-law, was at the restaurant along with several others when she described hearing loud noises and people crying.
She told the AP that she saw people lying down after they rushed to the exit. “There were many green plastic chairs all over the place and I saw heads and arms that weren’t attached. It was truly horrible.”
