New Delhi: At least 21 people were shot dead by Islamic State-backed rebels in a church in Congo on Sunday.
The attack took place around 1 am on a Catholic church in Komanda, a town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to local officials.
Fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militant group with ties to the Islamic State, carried out the attack, reported AP.
Several houses and shops were set on fire during the attack.
“More than 21 people were shot dead inside and outside and we have recorded at least three charred bodies and several houses burned. The search is continuing,” said Dieudonné Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komanda.
A spokesperson for the Congolese army confirmed the attack but provided a lower 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 set on fire,” said Lt Jules Ngongo, the army’s spokesperson in the region.
The ADF, which began as a rebel movement in Uganda in the 1990s, shifted its operations to Congo in the early 2000s. The group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019 and has carried out a series of brutal attacks in eastern Congo in recent years.
Earlier this month, ADF killed dozens of civilians in Ituri province, an incident the United Nations described as a “bloodbath”.
Its fighters often target villages, churches and schools.
The Congolese army, already having to deal with continuous clashes with the M23 rebel group in the region, continues to struggle against the growing threat posed by the ADF.
Local leaders expressed anger and concern about the lack of security in Komanda.
“We are truly disappointed because it is incredible that such a situation could occur in a town where all the security officials are present,” Duranthabo said.
“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.”
