Islamic State-backed rebels attacked a Catholic church in eastern Congo, killing at least 34 people, according to a local civil society leader. Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komanda, in the Ituri province, said that the attackers stormed the church in Komanda town at around 1 a.m. Several houses and shops were also burnt.
Video footage from the scene shared online appeared to show burning structures and bodies on the floor of the church. Those who were able to identify some of the victims wailed while others stood in shock. At least five other people were killed in an earlier attack on the nearby village of Machongani.
Eastern Congo has suffered deadly attacks in recent years by armed groups, including the ADF and Rwanda-backed rebels. The ADF, which has ties to the Islamic State, operates in the borderland between Uganda and Congo and often targets civilians. The group killed dozens of people in Ituri earlier this month in what a United Nations spokesperson described as a bloodbath.
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