Islamic State-backed rebels killed 38 worshippers at a Catholic prayer vigil in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo at about 1 a.m. on Sunday (June 27) and five other people at a nearby village, according to reports.
The militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) with guns and machetes attacked the church service in Komanda village, Ituri Province, news agencies reported. Vatican News identified the church as the Parish of Blessed Anuarite.
The Islamist ADF, which originated in Uganda in the 1990s, is now based in DRC near the Ugandan border and has affiliated with Islamic State Central African Province. Islamic State on Monday (July 28) reportedly responsibility for the attack on its Telgram account.
Nine of the total 43 killed were children, the U.N. peacekeeping mission, Monusco, told the BBC. The rebels also looted and set ablaze area shops and businesses.
“These targeted attacks against defenseless civilians, particularly in places of worship, are not only appalling but also in violation of all human rights standards and international humanitarian law,” Monusco deputy chief Vivian van de Perre told BBC.
The attack killed 19 women and 15 men, Monusco reported. A DRC military spokesperson reportedly said, “These terrorists have decided to take revenge on defenseless peaceful populations to spread terror.”
Monusco last week condemned a renewed surge of ADF violence, including a July 8-9 raid that that took the lives of 47 people.
Sunday’s attack was designed to divert attention from the DRC’s joint military operation with Ugandan forces against the ADF, according to Lt. Jules Ngongo, Congolese army spokesman in Ituri Province. He told the BBC the army would continue pursuing the ADF.
DRC in 2021 invited Ugandan troops to help battle the ADF.
Pope Leo XIV expressed sorrow over the attack, according to Vatican News.
“May the blood of these martyrs become a seed of peace, reconciliation, fraternity, and love for the Congolese people,” the pope wrote.
Lossa Dhekana, a civil society leader in Ituri Province, told the AP that the assailants also took “several people into the bush; we do not know their destination or their number.”
The rebels came from a stronghold about seven miles from the center of Komanda and fled before security forces could arrive, according to a U.N.-backed radio station, citing security sources.
Eastern Congo has suffered deadly attacks in recent years by armed groups, including the ADF and Rwanda-backed rebels. The ADf in 2019 pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
The ADF reportedly slaughtered 70 people at a church in North Kivu Province in February.
