Islamic State-affiliated rebels launched a deadly assault on a Catholic church in Komanda, a town in eastern Congo’s Ituri province, killing at least 34 people
Newsroom (29/07/2025, Gaudium Press )Islamic State-affiliated rebels launched a deadly assault on a Catholic church in Komanda, a town in eastern Congo’s Ituri province, killing at least 34 people in the early hours of Sunday, a local civil society leader reported. The attack, which also saw homes and shops set ablaze, has intensified fears of escalating violence in a region plagued by armed groups.
Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komanda, told The Associated Press that the assailants stormed the church around 1 a.m., leaving a trail of destruction. “The bodies of the victims are still at the scene of the tragedy, and volunteers are preparing how to bury them in a mass grave that we are preparing in a compound of the Catholic church,” Duranthabo said. Video footage circulating online depicted burning structures and bodies strewn across the church floor, with survivors visibly distraught as they identified victims.
The attack is attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group with ties to the Islamic State, known for its brutal assaults on civilians in the Congo-Uganda border region. The ADF, armed with guns and machetes, is also believed responsible for a separate attack on the nearby village of Machongani, where at least five people were killed. Lossa Dhekana, another civil society leader in Ituri, reported that the attackers abducted several people, taking them into the bush with their fate and numbers unknown.
Lt. Jules Ngongo, a spokesperson for the Congolese army in Ituri, confirmed at least 10 deaths in the Komanda church attack, though U.N.-backed Radio Okapi cited security sources reporting a higher toll of 43. The assailants, believed to have come from a stronghold 12 kilometers (7 miles) from Komanda, fled before security forces could respond, Ngongo said.
Duranthabo condemned the violence, noting the presence of security officials in Komanda. “The enemy is still near our town,” he warned, urging immediate military intervention to prevent further attacks.
Eastern Congo has been a hotspot for violence in recent years, with the ADF and other groups, including Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, perpetrating deadly raids. The ADF, formed in Uganda in the late 1990s amid discontent with President Yoweri Museveni, relocated to Congo in 2002 after military pressure from Ugandan forces. Since pledging allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019, the group has been linked to thousands of civilian deaths, including dozens killed in Ituri earlier this month in what a U.N. spokesperson described as a “bloodbath.”
The Congolese army has struggled to curb the ADF’s activities, particularly as conflict with M23 rebels has strained resources. Sunday’s attack underscores the persistent threat to civilians in the region and the urgent need for strengthened security measures.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now
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