At least 38 worshippers have been killed in a horrifying attack on a Catholic church in Komanda, a town in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local officials confirmed on Sunday.
According to local sources, militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) a rebel group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) stormed the church during a Saturday night prayer service, opening fire on congregants in the dead of night.
The attack reportedly began around 1 a.m., with the assailants slaughtering 31 people inside the church.
Several nearby homes and shops were also set ablaze during the coordinated assault, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komanda, Ituri province, told reporters.
“The bodies of the victims are still at the scene of the tragedy, and volunteers are preparing how to bury them in a mass grave that we are preparing in a compound of the Catholic church.”
In a separate incident earlier that night, five more civilians were killed in an attack on the nearby village of Machongani.
A search operation is currently underway to locate missing persons and assess the full scale of the devastation.
This isn’t the first time churches in eastern Congo have been targeted by ADF rebels. In 2023, the same group carried out a deadly bomb attack during a Protestant church service, killing 10 and wounding dozens more.
The latest attack adds to a string of atrocities committed by the ADF in the region, fuelling fresh concerns over the worsening security crisis in eastern Congo where armed groups continue to operate with impunity despite ongoing military operations.
