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The rebels mainly attacked Christians who were spending the night in the Catholic church
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Komanda, Ituri Province
At least 38 people were killed and 15 others injured in a brutal attack on a Catholic church in Komanda, a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), early Sunday morning. The massacre is believed to have been carried out by suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed rebel group with ties to ISIL (ISIS). According to local authorities and witnesses, the attackers, armed with guns and machetes, stormed the church during an overnight prayer vigil organized by Caritas, a Catholic charity. Several houses and shops were also set ablaze, and an unknown number of people remain missing.
“The rebels mainly attacked Christians who were spending the night in the Catholic church,” said Christophe Munyanderu, a human rights activist in Komanda. “Unfortunately, these people were killed with machetes or bullets.”
Gruesome details emerge
Reports from Radio Okapi put the death toll at 43, noting that more than 20 people were killed with bladed weapons, while other bodies were found burned in nearby houses.
“What we know this morning is that there was an incursion by armed men with machetes into a church not far from Komanda,” said Jules Ngongo, a spokesperson for the DRC army.
Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komanda, told the Associated Press that victims were shot both inside and outside the church, and that at least three charred bodies had been recovered. “The search for more bodies is still ongoing,” he said.
Call for military action
Duranthabo expressed deep frustration over the lack of security, especially in a town with a strong security presence. “We are truly disappointed because it is incredible that such a situation could occur in a town where all the security officials are present,” he said. “We demand military intervention as soon as possible, since we are told the enemy is still near our town.”
ADF’s trail of terror
The ADF, originally formed in Uganda in the late 1990s by small dissident groups opposed to President Yoweri Museveni, relocated to DRC in 2002 after military crackdowns in Uganda. Since then, it has become one of the region’s deadliest militias, responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians.
In 2019, the ADF pledged allegiance to ISIL, further escalating its violent campaign in eastern Congo. Earlier this month, the group reportedly killed dozens in Ituri province, a massacre the United Nations peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) condemned as a “bloodbath.”
A region in crisis
The DRC army continues to battle a complex web of armed groups, including the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, further complicating efforts to stabilize the eastern region.
The latest attack highlights the urgent need for enhanced military intervention and protection of civilian populations, especially in conflict-prone areas like Ituri and North Kivu.
Source: News Agencies (AP, Radio Okapi, UN Reports)
