(RAIR Foundation)—Komanda, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo — In yet another act of Islamic brutality that has become tragically familiar in Central Africa, Muslims from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) stormed a Catholic church in northeastern Congo on the night of Saturday, July 26. The ADF, a jihadist group pledged to the Islamic State (ISIS), left a trail of death, devastation, and terror.
The Bienheureuse (Blessed) Anuarite Parish in Komanda, a town located 75 kilometers south of Bunia, was the target of this coordinated Islamist attack. The ADF, composed initially of Ugandan rebels and now an official affiliate of ISIS, unleashed gunfire on a church gathering of the Eucharistic Crusade, a Catholic youth movement. The result: at least 43 people killed, most of them young worshippers.
“Before our eyes, we have at least 31 dead members of the Eucharistic Crusade movement, with six seriously injured. Some young people have been kidnapped — we have no news of them,” said Father Aimé Lokana Dhego, the parish priest, in a statement to AFP.
Hours later, seven additional bodies were discovered in the surrounding area. According to Dieudonné Katanabo, head of the Umoja neighborhood where the church is located, “Last night around 9 p.m. (7 p.m. GMT), we heard gunshots near the parish. So far, we have seen 35 bodies.”
Christophe Munyanderu, coordinator of the Convention for the Respect of Human Rights (CNCDH), attributed the massacre to ADF rebels and gave a provisional death toll of 38. A United Nations report released early Monday morning confirmed the number of dead had risen to 43.
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