At least 43 civilians were killed overnight from Saturday to Sunday in an attack attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), local sources said Sunday.
Witnesses said the assailants also looted a local bank and other community properties before retreating into the nearby forest.
The ADF, an affiliate of the Islamic State in Central Africa, is a Ugandan rebel group operating in eastern DRC, prompting joint military operations by Congolese and Ugandan forces to pursue the group since November 2021.Photo/BBC
It has since become part of the Islamic State’s Central African Province, which also includes a group in Mozambique.
According to research by BBC Monitoring, nearly 90% of IS operations are now carried out by affiliates in Africa.
Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komanda, told the Associated Press that more bodies could be found after the latest attack.
“More than 21 people were shot dead inside and outside [the church] and we have recorded at least three charred bodies and several houses burned. But the search is continuing.”
Father Aime Lokana Dhego, a local priest, told the AFP news agency: “We have at least 31 dead members of the Eucharistic Crusade movement, with six seriously injured. Some young people were kidnapped, we have no news of them.”
He added that seven other bodies had been found elsewhere in the town.
The UN-sponsored Radio Okapi website put the number of dead at 43.
A spokesperson for the army said he could confirm 10 deaths.
In 2021, DR Congo invited Ugandan troops into the country to help tackle the ADF. Attacks however still continue.
Komanda is in DR Congo’s mineral-rich Ituri province, which has been fought over by various armed groups for many years.