At least 35 individuals were killed on Sunday in an assault by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) insurgents in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, bringing an end to a period of regional tranquility that had lasted for months, according to local sources who spoke to AFP. The ADF, a group originally formed from former Ugandan rebels that pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2019, reportedly stormed a Catholic church in the town of Komanda. Worshippers were gathered for prayer at the time of the attack, residents informed AFP via telephone from Bunia, the capital of Ituri province.
“Last night around 9 PM (1900 GMT), we heard gunfire near the parish church… so far we have seen 35 bodies,” Dieudonne Katanabo, an elder from the Umoja neighborhood, told AFP. Father Aime Lokana Dhego, parish priest of the Blessed Anuarite parish of Komanda, stated to AFP, “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.” The priest further added that seven additional bodies had been discovered within the town.
Christophe Munyanderu, coordinator of the local NGO Convention for the Respect of Human Rights, also attributed the attack to “ADF rebels” and provided a provisional death toll of 38. Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, army spokesman in Ituri, did not comment on the specific number of casualties but confirmed the attack to AFP, stating that “the enemy is believed to have been identified among ADF” rebels. This bloodshed follows several months of peace in the Ituri region, which borders Uganda. The last significant attack by the ADF occurred in February, resulting in 23 fatalities in Mambasa territory.
Komanda, a town in Irumu territory, serves as a crucial commercial hub connecting three other provinces: Tshopo, North Kivu, and Maniema. Despite the deployment of both the Ugandan army and Congolese armed forces in the area, the ADF has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians and an escalation in looting and killings across northeastern DRC. In late 2021, Kampala and Kinshasa launched a joint military operation against the ADF, named “Shujaa,” which has, to date, been unsuccessful in dislodging the group.
