An attack on worshippers in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed the lives of 43 individuals. The massacre occurred at around 1 a.m. on July 27 in the village of Komanda, Ituri Province, targeting a Catholic prayer vigil at the Parish of Blessed Anuarite.
The attack was executed by militants of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group affiliated with the Islamic State Central African Province. Originating from Uganda in the 1990s, the ADF has since entrenched itself in the DRC near the Ugandan border. The Islamic State took responsibility for the gruesome assault via its Telegram account on Monday.
According to the U.N. peacekeeping mission Monusco, among the 43 killed were nine children. In addition to the loss of innocent lives, local shops and businesses were looted and set ablaze by the rebels. Monusco detailed that the fatal count included 19 women and 15 men. A DRC military spokesperson commented, “These terrorists have decided to take revenge on defenseless peaceful populations to spread terror.”
Monusco had recently condemned an upsurge in ADF-led violence, including a deadly July 8-9 raid that resulted in 47 casualties. According to Lt. Jules Ngongo, the Congolese army spokesman in Ituri Province, the recent attacks aim to divert attention from a joint military operation by DRC and Ugandan forces against the ADF. He assured, “The army would continue pursuing the ADF,” according to BBC.
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. Lossa Dhekana, a civil society leader in the region, informed the Associated Press that the assailants also took “several people into the bush; we do not know their destination or their number.”
In recent years, Eastern Congo has witnessed numerous deadly offenses by armed groups, inclusive of the ADF and other regional militants. Having pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, the ADF previously orchestrated an attack in February on a church in North Kivu Province, resulting in 70 casualties.
