Pope decries 'cowardly' attack on Congo refugee camp

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Pope Francis has condemned a “cowardly attack” on a refugee camp in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Mugunga camp is home to around 27,000 internally displaced people. The Congolese military accused the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels of carrying out the attack.

At least 18 people were killed, many of them children, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It said more than 30 other people were wounded.

In a May 8 letter addressed to Bishop Willy Ngumbi Ngengele of Goma Diocese, Pope Francis said he learnt “with sorrow” the “cowardly attack perpetrated in the refugee camp of Mugunga”.