Komanda: A devastating terrorist attack on a Christian church in the northeastern city of Komanda has left at least 43 people dead, including nine children, in what authorities are calling one of the deadliest assaults in recent years. The attackers, reportedly members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) an extremist group with ties to the Islamic State stormed the church during Sunday morning prayers, unleashing violence with rifles and machetes.
According to eyewitnesses, the peaceful congregation had just begun their prayers when chaos erupted. Gunmen burst into the sanctuary, targeting worshippers without discrimination. Twenty-eight people were killed on the spot, while many others succumbed to injuries later. Several surrounding facilities, including religious institutions and community centers, were set ablaze during the rampage.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUSCO, has confirmed that nine children were among the dead, underscoring the brutal nature of the assault. Emergency teams are still recovering bodies from the site, and the final death toll could rise.
The ADF, originally formed in Uganda in the late 1990s, has long been a source of instability in the border regions of Congo. Since pledging allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019, the group has escalated its campaign of violence, frequently targeting Christian populations and institutions in an attempt to spread religious terror and undermine social cohesion.
Despite making up only about 10 percent of Congo’s population, the Muslim community predominantly resides in the eastern provinces, where the ADF has established its stronghold. Analysts say the group uses guerrilla tactics to exploit the lack of governance and security in remote areas.
This is not the first time the ADF has targeted Christian places of worship. In February of this year, 23 people were killed in an attack on a church in the city of Mombasa. The group’s pattern of violence involves storming houses of prayer, instilling fear through indiscriminate killings, and destroying community assets.
The Congolese government has condemned the attack as a "barbaric act of religious cleansing" and has vowed to intensify military operations against militant strongholds in the eastern region. International humanitarian agencies have also expressed concern over the rising scale of religious violence and are urging for greater global attention and support for the conflict-ridden region.
As the country reels from the massacre, survivors and families of the victims have begun mass burials amidst heightened security. The incident has reignited calls for stronger regional cooperation to dismantle terror networks that continue to exploit porous borders and weak state structures in Central Africa.