Gunshots thundered as attackers burst into the church hall, picked out victims, tied them up and shot them dead, survivors in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said Monday.
Witnesses of the massacre, which took place from Saturday night to Sunday in Komanda, Ituri province, described to Agence France-Presse how Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) fighters massacred dozens of worshippers, including women and children, at the Blessed Anuarite Catholic parish church.
Pierre Abendi, 21, said he arrived at the church on Saturday evening and “fell asleep a few minutes later” before being woken by the sound of gunshots.
“At first, we thought they were boys from the town, but when I heard they were speaking a foreign language, I understood that they were the ADF,” he told Agence France-Presse.
“I stood against a wall and hid behind a mattress. I waited quietly for my turn to die,” he said, his voice trembling.
It was one of the worst recent attacks blamed on the ADF, an Islamist group that is affiliated with the Salafi militant group Islamic State (known as IS, ISIL or ISIS) – shattering recent months of regional calm.
It is one of various armed groups present in the northeast and east of the DR Congo, stricken by conflict in recent years.
The UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MONUSCO) said the attack killed 43 people overall, including nine children.
A priest, Aime Lokana Dhego, said he knew of “six seriously wounded and a number of young people kidnapped” from the church.
One man who asked not to be identified said he was in his shop near the church with his brother when he heard “gunshots and cries for help”.
Minutes later, the attackers knocked on their door.
“If you don’t open up, we’ll set you on fire,” they said, according to the man.
Opening the door, “we saw them armed with machetes and rifles. It was terrifying.”
Once out in the bush, he said, “We thought they were going to cut our throats.”
The two fled when another group of armed men appeared and confronted the ADF, firing shots in the air.
On Monday, the two attended a funeral for victims of the attack in Komanda, some 60km (40 miles) southwest of Bunia, the capital of Ituri province in the volatile east of the DRC.
After a religious ceremony, the coffins of the victims were placed in a large communal grave for burial, watched by security forces.
Local residents were quick to criticise the authorities’ handling of security in Komanda.
“We’re truly in shock. Children and women have been killed,” one local woman at the funeral told Agence France-Presse.
“What are the security services doing in Komanda? They’re not doing their job. They’re not doing anything at all.”
“These targeted attacks on defenceless civilians, especially in places of worship, are not only revolting but also contrary to all norms of human rights and international humanitarian law,” said Vivian van de Perre, deputy chief of MONUSCO.
The Congolese army denounced the “large-scale massacre”, adding that “around forty civilians were surprised and killed with machetes and several others were seriously injured”.
It said the ADF had decided to take “revenge on defenceless peaceful populations to spread terror”.
A mainly Muslim fundamentalist group formed by former Ugandan rebels, the ADF has looted and killed thousands of civilians in northeastern DRC, despite the deployment of the Ugandan and Congolese armies in the area since 2021.
Pope Leo XIV on Monday expressed his dismay and “profound grief” at the attack.
France condemned it “with utmost firmness” and said it stood “alongside the Congolese authorities in fighting against terrorist groups and protecting the population”.
