No fewer than 38 people were slaughtered in the early hours of Sunday in what officials are calling a calculated and brutal assault on a Catholic church in Komanda, a city in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The attackers—believed to be members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militant group with ties to the Islamic State—stormed the church during an overnight mass, unleashing chaos on a congregation gathered for worship.
City official Jean Kato confirmed the grim toll: 38 dead, 15 wounded, and a still-uncertain number of people missing.
Authorities fear the number of fatalities may rise as the search continues for those unaccounted for.
Eyewitnesses described a horrific scene as the assailants, armed with automatic rifles and machetes, surrounded the church and attacked worshippers indiscriminately.
Some victims were reportedly shot at close range, while others were hacked to death.
“It was carnage,” said Christophe Munyanderu, a local human rights advocate who arrived at the site shortly after the assault. “People initially thought it was a robbery. But when the shooting didn’t stop, they realized it was something far worse.”
The ADF, originally a Ugandan rebel faction, has grown into one of the deadliest armed groups in eastern Congo, responsible for a spate of massacres targeting civilians.
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The group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019, and has since been classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations.
Sunday’s attack marks one of the deadliest on a house of worship in the DRC in recent years and underscores the deteriorating security situation in the Ituri and North Kivu provinces, where local militias, foreign rebel groups, and extremist cells continue to operate with impunity.
Regional and international observers have repeatedly called for increased military and humanitarian efforts to stabilize eastern Congo, where thousands have been displaced due to ongoing violence.
In the aftermath of the massacre, Komanda’s streets remained eerily quiet, with residents mourning their loved ones and demanding protection.
Government forces have reportedly launched a manhunt for the perpetrators, though no arrests had been made as of Sunday evening.
Humanitarian agencies are warning of a growing crisis in the region, with escalating violence threatening already fragile communities.