AT LEAST 10 people have been killed after a bomb exploded inside a packed church during a Sunday service.

Horrifying pictures show blood stained pews, screaming parishioners and bodies being hauled away after the explosion.

3

3

3

People are seen covered in blood and children are feared to be among the dead or wounded.

The bombing is already believed to have been a terror attack carried out by Islamist rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At least 39 others others are believed to have been injured in the blast that happened in a pentecostal church in the town of Kasindi in North Kivu.

Military officials have said the bombing was likely carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

The ADF are a Ugandan military group that has pledged allegiance to the terror group ISIS.

Videos and pictures from the scene show chaos as people were left fleeing the scene screaming or helping carry others out of the church.

“I just came back from the scene, where I saw the bodies of children on the ground,” said witness Alain Kitsa.

Military spokesman Antony Mualushayi described the attack as a “terrorist act”.

“The security services have already taken control of the place and the injured have been evacuated to local health facilities,” said Mualushayi.

The bomb is believed to have been an improvised explosive device.

The ADF is active in the area close to the border with Uganda.

The ADF has been accused of slaughtering thousands of Congolese civilians and carrying out bomb attacks in neighbouring Uganda.

It has planted bombs in towns in North Kivu in the past.

Since 2021 a joint Ugandan-Congolese military operation has been targeting the ADF in North Kivu and neighbouring Ituri province.

Over 120 armed groups roam mineral-rich eastern DRC, many of which are the legacy of regional wars that flared at the turn of the century.

Story and  some Photos  from the The Sun