By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Several persons have been feared dead in an attack believed to have been carried out by an Islamic State affiliate in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials have announced.
At least 20 of those killed were worshippers participating in a night vigil at a church in the town of Komanda when they were attacked by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) fighters, the officials added.
Shops and businesses nearby were also looted and set on fire.
Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komanda, told the Associated Press that more bodies could be found after the latest attack.
“More than 21 people were shot dead inside and outside [the church] and we have recorded at least three charred bodies and several houses burned. But the search is continuing.”
A local priest, Father Aime Lokana Dhego, said, “We have at least 31 dead members of the Eucharistic Crusade movement, with six seriously injured. Some young people were kidnapped, we have no news of them.”
He added that seven other bodies had been found elsewhere in the town.
The ADF emerged in Uganda in the 1990s, accusing the government there of persecuting Muslims, but is now based over the border in DR Congo, where it regularly attacks 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.
The UN-sponsored Radio Okapi website put the number of dead at 43.
A spokesperson for the army said he could confirm 10 deaths.
In 2021, DR Congo invited Ugandan troops into the country to help tackle the ADF. Attacks, however, still continue.
The attacked town, Komanda, is in DR Congo’s mineral-rich Ituri province, which has been fought over by various armed groups for many years.
