At least dozens of worshippers were killed on Sunday during a brutal attack on a church in Komanda, a town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, reportedly carried out by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels linked to the Islamic State.
The assault occurred during an overnight Catholic prayer vigil organized by the Caritas charity.
Eyewitnesses and civil society leaders confirmed that the attackers, armed with machetes and guns, stormed the church, killing congregants and setting several homes and shops ablaze.
Local civil society coordinator Dieudonne Duranthabo expressed shock that such an atrocity could happen despite the presence of security forces in the town.
He called for immediate military intervention, warning that the attackers were still believed to be nearby.
The ADF, a rebel group with roots in Uganda, has operated from eastern DRC since the early 2000s and has been responsible for numerous massacres.
The group was originally formed in the late 1990s in opposition to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, and later allied itself with Islamic State extremists.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO) has condemned the latest wave of violence in Ituri Province, where the ADF recently carried out another deadly assault described by the UN as a “bloodbath.”
The Congolese army continues to battle both the ADF and the M23 rebels, a separate insurgent group believed to be backed by Rwanda, amid a broader surge in insecurity across the region.
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