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The attack took place around 1 am and was carried out by fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militant group with ties to the Islamic State
M23 rebels patrol the streets of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (AP file photo)
At least 21 people were killed early Sunday in an attack on a Catholic church in Komanda, a town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, by Islamic State-linked rebels, according to local officials.
The attack took place around 1 a.m. and was carried out by fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militant group with ties to the Islamic State. Several houses and shops were also set on fire during the raid.
“More than 21 people were shot dead inside and outside and we have recorded at least three charred bodies and several houses burned,” said Dieudonné Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komanda. “But the search is continuing.”
The ADF has been behind a series of deadly attacks in eastern Congo in recent years. Earlier this month, the group killed dozens of civilians in Ituri province, an incident the United Nations described as a “bloodbath”.
A spokesperson for the Congolese army in Ituri confirmed the attack and gave a lower initial death toll.
“What we know this morning is that there was an incursion by armed men with machetes into a church not far from Komanda, where about 10 people were killed and massacred and some shops were set on fire,” said Lt. Jules Ngongo, the army’s spokesperson in the region.
The ADF began as a rebel movement in Uganda in the 1990s but shifted its operations into Congo in the early 2000s. The group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019 and has since carried out brutal attacks across North Kivu and Ituri provinces. Its fighters often target villages, churches, and schools.
Local leaders expressed anger and concern about the lack of security in Komanda.
“We are truly disappointed,” Duranthabo said. “It is incredible that such a situation could occur in a town where all the security officials are present. Some citizens have started fleeing the area and are heading towards Bunia.”
“We demand military intervention as soon as possible, since we are told the enemy is still near our town,” the spokesperson added.
The Congolese army, already stretched by ongoing clashes with the M23 rebel group in the region, continues to struggle against the growing threat posed by the ADF.
(With inputs from agencies)
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