More than 40 people were killed Sunday in an attack by Allied Democratic Forces rebels in northeastern DR Congo, ending a months-long period of regional calm, the UN mission and Congolese military said.
"They shot the Christians at point-blank range," Christophe Munyanderu, coordinator of the Convention for the Respect of Human Rights, a local civil society organisation, told RFI.
The rebels from Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) raided the Catholic church in Ituri, in the north east of the country, in the town of Komanda, where worshippers were gathered for prayer, residents told French news agency AFP by telephone from Bunia, capital of province.
The group pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2019.
The attack killed 43 people including nine children, according to the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MONUSCO).
"These targeted attacks on defenseless 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 the peacekeeping mission.
'Massacre'
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 added that the ADF had decided to take "revenge on defenseless peaceful populations to spread terror."
Local sources had reported an earlier death toll of at least 35, then 38, while another five were killed in a nearby village. The victims included 19 men, 15 women and nine children.
Jean Katho Toyabo, traditional chief of Komanda, told RFI's correspondent that young people were abducted during the attack, and that houses were also set on fire.
As of Sunday morning, several bodies were still lying on the ground, and churches remained closed.
Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, army spokesman in Ituri, did not comment on the toll but confirmed the attack to AFP, saying "the enemy is believed to have been identified among ADF rebels."
Pope Leo XIV expressed his "profound grief" on Monday over a deadly attack, saying he was praying for the victims and their families.
"His Holiness Pope Leo XIV learned with consternation and profound grief about the attack perpetrated against the Bienheureuse-Anuarite parish in Komanda," wrote Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See's secretary of state, in a telegram to Congolese Archbishop Fulgence Muteba Mugalu.
"This tragedy invites us to work even harder for the integral human development of the scarred population of this region," said the telegram. "His Holiness implores God that the blood of these martyrs may be a seed of peace, reconciliation, brotherhood and love for all the Congolese people."
From calm to violence
The bloodshed comes after months of calm in the region of Ituri, DRC, bordering Uganda.
The last major attack by the ADF was in February, leaving 23 dead in Mambasa territory.
The town of Komanda in Irumu territory is a commercial hub linking three other provinces, Tshopo, North Kivu, and Maniema.
The ADF rebels are originally from Uganda and are predominantly Muslim. They have killed thousands of civilians and ramped up looting and killing in northeastern DRC despite the deployment of the Ugandan army alongside Congolese armed forces in the area.
At the end of 2021, Kampala and Kinshasa launched a joint military operation against the ADF, dubbed "Shujaa", which has so far been unable to dislodge the group.
The Congolese army promised to continue tracking the ADF and called on the population "to remain extra vigilant and report any suspicious presence to the defense and security forces".
Eastern Congo has been beleaguered by protracted conflicts for decades, dating back to the Rwanda genocide in 1994.
(with AFP and AP)
