ISIS has claimed responsibility for a horror attack on worshippers at a Catholic church on Sunday. The attack left at least 43 people dead, including 19 women, 15 men and nine children.
The worshippers were taking part in a night vigil at a church in the town of Komanda, in north-easternDemocratic Republic of Congo. The attackers wielded machetes and guns, as they ran amok and mowed down the defenceless worshippers. Several houses and shops were set alight, and many people were unaccounted for following the terrifying ordeal.
“The rebels mainly attacked Christians who were spending the night in the Catholic church,” Christophe Munyanderu, a human rights activist present at the scene, told Al Jazeera. “Unfortunately, these people were killed with machetes or bullets.”
An article on the website of the Amaq Agency claimed Islamic State fighters carried out the horrifying slaughter.
“Security sources told Amaq Agency that Islamic State fighters attacked a church in the town of Komanda in the Irumu territory of Ituri province,” they wrote.
The Amaq News Agency is linked to ISIS and is often the “first point of publication for claims of responsibility” for terrorist attacks by the islamists.
The attack had been previously attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which is affiliated to ISIS. The group emerged in Uganda in the 1990s, accusing the government at the time of persecuting Muslims.
The militia is now based across the border in DR Congo, where it regularly carries out attacks on civilians of all religions, as well as in Uganda.
It has since become part of the Islamic State’s Central African Province, which also includes a group in Mozambique.
In 2021, DR Congo invited Ugandan troops into the country to help tackle the ADF.
The UN peacekeeping mission – Monusco – condemned the attack, saying it was a clear “violation of all human rights standards and international humanitarian law”.