Militants Strike Komanda and Machongani in One of the Year’s Deadliest Attacks
Komanda, DRC — The death toll in the brutal Sunday attack on a church in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has risen to 34, according to local officials and civil society leaders.
The assailants, identified as members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)—a rebel group affiliated with the Islamic State—unleashed a night of terror in Komanda and nearby Machongani village in Ituri Province.
Worshippers were slaughtered with machetes and gunfire as the attackers stormed the Catholic church compound around 1 a.m., catching residents unaware.
Witnesses described scenes of horror as dozens of civilians were killed, and a mass grave was being dug within the church grounds to bury the victims.
Civilians Slain, Dozens Abducted Into the Forest
According to local civil society coordinator Dieudonne Duranthabo, the rebels not only murdered churchgoers but also abducted dozens of people, dragging them into the dense surrounding forests.
He said the attackers looted shops, burned homes, and disappeared before military reinforcements could intervene.
“Despite the presence of all the security officials in town, this tragedy happened,” Duranthabo said, expressing frustration over the government’s failure to prevent the massacre. “We demand an immediate military response. The enemy is still near.”
In Machongani, a second village targeted during the same night, similar scenes of destruction were reported. Homes were set ablaze and several more lives lost, though officials have not yet released a specific death toll for that area.
Military and UN Confirm Attacks Amid Growing Insecurity
Lt. Jules Ngongo, a spokesperson for the Congolese army in Ituri Province, confirmed the attack and initially reported 10 deaths. That figure has since been revised upward as bodies continue to be recovered from the scene.
The United Nations had earlier referred to similar ADF attacks this month in Ituri as a “bloodbath,” warning of worsening humanitarian conditions as rebel violence intensifies.
The ADF, which originated in Uganda in the 1990s, has become one of the region’s most lethal militant groups. After pledging allegiance to ISIS in 2019, it has increased its attacks on civilians, particularly in border regions between Uganda and the DRC.
The group seeks to impose an Islamist regime and routinely targets both religious and government institutions.
DRC Faces Dual Threat from ADF and M23
This tragedy comes amid a deepening crisis in eastern Congo, where the government is also battling M23 rebels, a Rwandan-backed insurgency that recently captured the major city of Bukavu in South Kivu Province.
The offensive has displaced hundreds of thousands and stretched the Congolese military thin.
In February, M23 fighters were seen burning property seized from an abandoned Congolese police post—evidence of growing impunity among armed groups operating in the region.
As families in Komanda mourn their loved ones, and others flee into the forests for safety, civil society groups and human rights defenders are calling for urgent international intervention.
The Congolese government is under pressure to reinforce local security and dismantle militant strongholds before further bloodshed unfolds.
