In Congo, ISIS Islamists kill 34 people in Catholic church

Charred remains of a car after the assault in Komanda, Ituri Province, Congo. Photo: Sky News

On July 27, 2025, in the city of Komanda in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), militants linked to ISIS attacked a Catholic church. According to local authorities, at least 34 people were killed in the assault, and another 15 were injured. Several people are still considered missing. This was reported by Sky News.

The responsibility for the attack is attributed to the Islamist group "Allied Democratic Forces" (ADF), which has been operating in the region and maintaining ties with ISIS since 2018.

"They attacked at night," said human rights activist Christophe Munyanderu, who was in Komanda during the attack. At first, people thought they were thieves, but it turned out they were militants. "The rebels mainly attacked Christians who were spending the night in the Catholic church," he said. "Unfortunately, these people were killed with machetes or bullets."

Civil society coordinator Dieudonné Durantabo reported that the bodies of the victims still remain at the scene of the tragedy. "We are preparing a mass grave right in the church compound. These were civilians—unarmed, tired, surviving in constant danger. And the enemy struck them at their most vulnerable moment," he said.

He also noted that the attack occurred in a city where all security forces are officially present."We demand military intervention as soon as possible, since we are told the enemy is still near our town," added Durantabo.

According to human rights activists, the ADF group, which emerged in the late 1990s in Uganda, is responsible for the killings of thousands of civilians in Congo. On the same day, according to local reports, militants also attacked the neighboring village of Machongani, where they killed at least five people and abducted several civilians. Their whereabouts remain unknown.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that in Syria, Islamists killed a Christian pastor and 20 members of his family.

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